Built in 1834 on Sydney's Darling Point by the new Colonial Treasurer, Campbell Drummond Riddell, Lindesay was the first property to grace Darling Point. Its high position made it visible for miles around and allowed it to command a sweeping view of the Harbour. Owned by the National Trust since 1963, the house contains a fine collection of English and Colonial furniture. Its gardens and gracious interiors offer a special opportunity to step back into the lifestyle of the early colonials. Edited by Angela le Sueur from Lindesay - A Biography of the House. Photography by Christopher Shain. Reprinted from the November 2002 - January 2003 edition of reflections

   Campbell Drummond Riddell arrived in Sydney Town in 1831, a young and well connected Scotsman who had been appointed to the position of Colonial Treasurer. He had married Caroline Stuart Rodney, daughter of the government secretary in Colombo, while en route to Sydney, and was anxious to make his mark. Caroline's portrait hangs in the hall at Lindesay. Beautiful and pensive, she betrays a melancholy which brings to mind the difficulties of life in the early colony, however hard one tried to emulate 'home'. Across the hall, Riddell is portrayed in full Highland regalia; young, handsome, ambitious and full of resolve. He marked his early years in the colony with a growing discontent over his position, salary and the Governor he blamed for his plight, and whom he endeavoured to outdo whenever possible.
   The growing rift between Riddell and Governor Bourke was not helped when Bourke refused to grant Riddell the land he had thought rightfully his following the first subdivision of Darling Point. But Riddell's Scottish determination won through on all counts and he soon after acquired the site from the original purchasor for the sum of seven hundred and ninety-seven pounds - a price which indicated that a 'deal' had been done. Bourke was finally removed and sailed back to England in December 1837. It was an ignominious departure which Riddell may well have watched from his sandstone villa, by then complete and feted by the Sydney Morning Herald as an example to the colony.
    The building of Lindesay started soon after tenders were called in March 1834 but, although relatively simple in design, construction took over two years to complete. Soon after the project began, its architect, Edward Hallen took to the bush. Discontented with his opportunities and income, he abandoned the project. It is thought that he was replaced by Francis Clarke, the latter being the main influence on Lindesay's construction.
    Lindesay was designed as a villa - typically a freestanding rectangular block which presents a different self-contained facade on each side. It is Gothic Revival in Style. The design was much favoured by professional families at the time in rural Britain, and Lindesay was its first emulation in New South Wales. However, although bearing simalarities to simple villa designs in English Regency pattern books - and particularly to the design of a Glasgow property as illustrated in John Claudius Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture first published in London in 1833 - the design of Lindesay is simpler, reflecting a mix of Scottish austerity with a good dose of colonial disregard for convention.