Sydney Architecture Images- The Abbey, Annandale

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	Sydney Architecture Images- Leichhardt and area The Abbey
architect	John Young
location	Johnston Street, Annandale.
date	1882
style	Victorian Free Gothic
construction	A romantic house loosely based on a Scottish manor. The main house of the famous "witches houses" row, and locally rumoured to be a notorious abortion clinic.
type	House

Built by John Young, The Abbey has been described as a stone Gothic Revival mansion, modelled on Scottish manors. Young gave his imagination a free rein and the house incorporates gables, arches, gargoyles, lions, quatrefoils, chimneys, turrets, a cloister and a tower with copper cladding (it was rumoured that Young may have stolen gargoyles from St Mary's Cathedral, which he built, but there was no proof). Young was the highest ranking Mason in Australia and The Abbey incorporates Masonic themes. It is possible that the building may have been used by Young as a Masonic Lodge. After Young's death, The Abbey was occupied by a series of tenants, who subdivided the house to create flats and flatettes. A new owner acquired the house in 1959 and restored it. It is now on the National Estate.
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