Cliffbrook House (1922-)

The second 'Cliffbrook' mansion commissioned by Sir Denison Miller in 1921, the first Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, and designed by Architect John Kirkpatrick.

The Bank of New South Wales repossessed the property from it's previous owner, George Hill, after he fell into bankruptcy in 1899. In 1905, The Bank offered Miller the opportunity to occupy the mansion rent free, and after six years he decided to purchase the estate. He later sold the foreshore to the Randwick Municipal Council. Miller was known as a wonderful entertainer, throwing lavish garden parties for dignitaries in the grounds of his property.

The mansion Miller built still stands today, and is located on the site of the stables of the original Cliffbrook. Between 1951 and 1981 it was used by the government as the Atomic Energy Commission headquarters and is currently used by the University of New South Wales as a campus. It is a building with a blend of Edwardian and free Classical architectural features, and is set in extensive grounds.

Born in 1856 at Albury, New South Wales and died in 1923 at Woollahra, John Kirkpatrick was an architect who worked for a time with Edmund Blacket before he established his own practice in 1880. He designed many well known buildings of Sydney and surrounds. He replaced the architect Thomas Rowe completing the Sydney Hospital in 1891, and constructed the original five stands at the Sydney Cricket Ground.