5 June 2025

Manar at 42 Macleay Street is both a grand mansion and a collection of three buildings in a prominent position in the heart of Potts Point.

Manar cottage, as it was first named, was built by Emma Trant Lamb (nee Robinson), widow of Commander John Lamb of Larbert Lodge, between 1866 and 1869. It cost £1,350 pounds. By early January 1869, her son, Alfred, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth (nee Gordon), were living there, but It was not the imposing building today’s building is.

Mary Gordon was the daughter of Hugh Gordon of Manar, a country estate at Braidwood. Manar Cottage appears to have been named after the Gordon family home at Braidwood or after their childhood home, a property near lnverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Scottish property had been bought by her great grandfather, Hugh, a rich man from India, in 1804. It was renamed Manar after the straits between India and Ceylon where he had made part of his fortune in pearls, according to some accounts.

In 1872 Emma Trant Lamb’s original 1866 Potts Point lease of Lots 17 and 18 was replaced by a lease which added Lot 16, essentially the site of 40 Macleay Street. She spent a further £500 on buildings on Lots 17 and 18 and £100 on improvements to Lot 16.

Today’s building retains some remnants of the 19th century building including its chimney pots. It now consists of three buildings, two of which face Macleay Street. The third faces Elizabeth Bay.

Manar’s setback from its streetscape adds grace and space to its site and the significance of the area.

With thanks to Richard d’Apice AM