Loder House

The lower Hawkesbury was home to the Dharug people. The proximity to the Nepean River and South Creek qualifies it as a key area for food resources for indigenous groups.[3] The Dharug and Darkinjung people called the river Deerubbin and it was a vital source of food and transport.[4][2]

Governor Arthur Phillip explored the local area in search of suitable agricultural land in 1789 and discovered and named the Hawkesbury River after Baron Hawkesbury. This region played a significant role in the early development of the colony with European settlers established here by 1794. Situated on fertile floodplains and well known for its abundant agriculture, Green Hills (as it was originally called) supported the colony through desperate times. However, frequent flooding meant that the farmers along the riverbanks were often ruined.[2]

The side of Loder House was first alienated for European purposes in a 1794 grant made by Francis Grose of thirty acres to Samuel Wilcox, who named it Wilcox Farm. It is likely that land clearance and agricultural activities as well as some building works took place during this period and during the subsequent of occupation. Wilcox Farm was incorporated into a larger holding of 1500 acres known as Peninsula Farm in the early 19th century.[2]

On 1 January 1810, Lachlan Macquarie replaced William Bligh as Governor of New South Wales. Under Macquarie's influence, the colony prospered. Macquarie's vision was for a free community of white people, working in conjunction with the penal colony. He implemented an unrivaled public works program, completing 265 public buildings, establishing new public amenities and improving existing services such as roads. Under his leadership Hawkesbury district thrived. On 6 December 1810, Macquarie recorded in his journal that on that day he had named what were to become the five Macquarie Towns in the Hawkesbury district. Following Macquarie's proclamation, Windsor became a more permanent township with streets, a town square and public buildings.[2]

Loder House was built in 1834 for George Loder Jnr., a prosperous farmer and merchant. Loder was the son of a soldier who came to Australia from India. In 1819, George Jnr., married Mary Ann Howe. They were successful in their farming pursuits, and decided to move to the township of Windsor and open a butcher's store. They commenced to build a grand townhouse shortly after establishing their business. They built Loder House in the main street of Windsor to house their large young family.[2]

In addition to his farming activities, George Jnr had accompanied his father George Snr and his younger brother Andrew on a number of explorations of the Hunter District, discovering and exploring the Singleton district. They were also given several grants of land at Singleton.[2]

Loder died in 1834, aged 38, never having lived in his grand house. He was buried in the family vault at St Matthew's Anglican Church. He left the house in trust to Mary Ann and his younger brother. In 1835 Mary Ann married her widowed brother in law Thomas Dargin II who also had a large young family and together they took up residence in the George Street house, which became known as Loder's House. Thomas Dargin died in 1843 and Mary Ann remarried in 1846 to Laban White, an auctioneer and prominent citizen of Windsor. They continued to live at Loder House until the death of White in 1873, whereupon Mary Ann went to live with relatives in Singleton, where she died in 1882.[2]

The house was subsequently used as a branch of the Commercial Bank of New South Wales from 1874 to 1889, with the upper and rear section used as a residence for the manager. The building was purchased in 1889 by Benjamin Richards and once more became a family residence. In 1893 Richards sold the property to Daniel Holland, another prosperous merchant in the town. He and his family lived there for some years and were responsible for the handsome cast iron lacework and stone walling which replaced an earlier pallisade fence. Holland conducted a successful drapery business in Windsor but eventually left the district in 1906.[2]

From 1923 to 1940 the building was used as a boarding house by Reginald Wilbow.[2]

In 1955 the property was transferred to Thomas Ogden, Thomas Cragg and William John and in 1962 to Norbert Cleary who held it until 1973 when it was partially gutted by fire. It was then purchased by Pacific Investments who applied to demolish the building and redevelop the site with a modern office block. The proposal met with such strong public opposition that the Department of Planning and Environment purchased the property in 1975 to ensure its conservation.[2]

The building has been associated with several prominent local identities including members of the Loder, Dargin, White, Richards and Holland families.[5][2]

The building was restored under a National Estate Programme Grant by architects Fisher Lucas and leased to Hawkesbury Shire Council. A Permanent Conservation Order was made over the property in 1978 by the Minister for Planning and Environment under advice from the Heritage Council of NSW and the order was gazetted on 14 December 1979. This covered the land, the house, the brick outbuilding and boundary fence and it was only the 3rd made in New South Wales under the Heritage Act 1977.[2]

It has been used for a variety of uses since its acquisition by the state government, including various now-closed restaurants ("Lachlan's Restaurant", "Governor's Choice" and "The Linden"), as a boarding house, and for many years as a bookshop.[2] It was sold in November 2006, and was vacant and advertised for lease in August 2017.[6]

• Hawkesbury Tourism (2007). "Loder House".
• Nichols, Michelle (Local Studies Librarian) (2010). Macquarie and the Hawkesbury District.
• Noel Bell Ridley Smith & Partners, Architects (1989). Loder House Curtilage Study.
• not known (1978). National Estate Programme 1977/78: Loder House Windsor.
• Lester Tropman & Ass., with Helen Proudfoot & Meredith Walker (1987). Heritage Study of the Shire of Hawkesbury.
• Howard Tanner & Associates Pty Ltd (1984). Heritage Study of the North Western Sector of Sydney.
• Paul Davies Pty Ltd (1999). s.170 Register DUAP.

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Loder House, entry number 00003 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 1 June 2018.