Apartment 53, 5 Darley Street is for sale through Penny Timothy and Luke McDonnell.

See https://www.rwebay.com.au/5185392/

Unusually, this “building” is actually two apartment buildings, both of different scale.  The block of apartments to the south, the smaller of the two, is four storeys high whilst the northern block, seven storeys high, is the larger, and contains apartment 53.

Both are built by the same architect in the same inter-war (1919-1939) period and feature Art Deco elements. They were probably built circa 1930. The exterior facades feature distinctive red and liver-coloured brickwork, with corbelling (a stepped-out design becoming a supporting element) forming the recesses of each main entry. Above the entrance is a pair of brick vertical fins that extends to above parapet level and emphasising the vertical scale of the building. Exterior Art Deco features include chrome front door handles and terrazzo steps. Interior features include, cream and black bathroom tiles, cream and green ziggurat motif kitchen tiling, period picture rails, and possibly, Bakelite bathroom door handles.

This is a “multum in parvo” compact apartment and, by definition, contains much in little. It even contains a bath, considered a must-have in the period in which it was built for luxury apartments. Its brass name plate indicates its status as a prominent and important element within the streetscape of this part of Darlinghurst.

Its history includes the story of the “missing monk”, a Malaysian gentleman who purchased a unit, then started, but left unfinished, renovations. He then renounced all his earthly possessions and vanished to Malaysia. He turned out to be a Buddhist monk, Law Siek Hong, who now dedicates himself both to his religion and to preserving heritage sites in Ipoh, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Perak, 180km north of Kuala Lumpur.

The Owner’s Corporation used a Malaysian agent to track him down but that agent absconded with the money paid to him. There was no result. They eventually took novel, successful legal action after 12 years trying to recoup levies. In the end the NSW Supreme Court ordered the sale of the apartment, purchased in 1989, and “the first case of its kind”.

By Andrew Woodhouse

Heritage Solutions