Rose Bay Cottage, Sydney

Rose Bay Cottage (also called Rose Bay Lodge or Salisbury Court) is a heritage home in Rose Bay, Sydney, Australia. It is listed by the Heritage Council as a building of historical significance. It is the oldest surviving house in the Woollahra Municipality.

The well-known architect John Verge built Rose Bay Cottage in 1834 for James Holt, who lived in it until 1843. In 1843, Sir Daniel Cooper, who was the brother-in-law of James Holt, arrived in Sydney and took up residence at the cottage.

Daniel Cooper was born in 1821 in Lancashire, England. He was the second son of Thomas Cooper, a merchant, and came to Australia with his parents while still a child. He returned to England at the age of 14 to complete his education, but came back to Australia in 1843 and became a commercial partner with James Holt. In the same year, he moved into Rose Bay Cottage as a bachelor but three years later, in 1846, he married Elizabeth Hill who was the third daughter of William Hill Esq of Sydney. The couple lived in the house until 1848. In the Sydney Morning Herald in March of that year, there was an advertisement stating that "Rose Bay Cottage", the residence of Sir Daniel Cooper was available to rent. James Moffitt (1802–1872) who was a notable stationer, bookseller and engraver, leased the house for 7 years. Sir Daniel Cooper returned to the cottage in 1855. There is a birth notice for a daughter to Mrs Daniel Cooper in the Sydney Morning Herald in August 1855. This time the cottage is referred to as "Rose Bay Lodge".

By this time, Sir Daniel Cooper was a member of Parliament and had been elected as Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He must have made some substantial improvements to the garden, as the photo of his house shows a fountain. Mr Francis Grundy, in his memoirs, made a note of Rose Bay Cottage. He said "Rose Bay and its one large low house, alone and its orderly grounds, crisp trim lawns and splashing fountain (is) where Sir Daniel Cooper once dispensed his generous hospitality'. A photograph of his house in 1855 showing its isolation in Rose Bay and a close up picture of the fountain referred to is shown below.

Sir Daniel Cooper lived at Rose Bay Cottage while his new house was being built nearby called Woollahra House. The next resident appears to be Walter Lamb as a birth notice is in the Sydney Morning Herald in July 1860 for a son born at "Rose Bay Lodge" to the wife of Walter Lamb. It is not certain how long Walter Lamb resided here but the Sands Directories show that Sir John Hay was in residence from 1866 until his death in 1892.

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