By Cathy Jones (2026)
‘Huntingtower’ 33-35 Homebush Road is a substantial single storey Federation Queen Anne style face brick house with a hipped and gabled unglazed terracotta tile roof. The house was formerly numbered 23 Homebush Road and was renumbered in 1960. ‘Huntingtower’ first appears in Sands Directory for William Fehon JP in 1901.
This property is situated on the original Thomas Rose land grant of 1793. The land passed to Edward Powell and by the 1880’s the land was generally owned by William Russell. In October 1888, six acres in the northern part of Russell’s land was acquired by the President and Fellows of Camden Congregational College, with the intention of building a theological college in Strathfield. An additional five perches fronting Homebush Road was added from the Frederick Meredith 1793 grant, thereby the land fronted Albert Road, Homebush Road and Beresford Road. In response to 1890s economic depression, the College decided to subdivide the land into lots and offer it for sale in 1898. This subdivision created residential lots in Albert Rd (65-103 Albert Rd), Homebush Rd (25-39 Homebush Rd) and parts of Beresford Rd.
In December 1899, Anne Fehon purchased land from the Trustees of Camden Congregational College. Mrs Fehon was the wife of William Meeke Fehon (1834-1911), Fehon served as Commissioner of NSW Railways from 1888 to 1907. Strathfield Council’s 1900 valuation record notes the house was in course of being built. Robert Finch, a local builder, is noted on the Council valuation record as the owner (which is incorrect according to land titles), however it is likely he was the builder of this house. The house was completed in either late 1900 or early 1901 and was named ‘Huntingtower’.
In February 1908, the property transferred (by transmission) to William Meeke Fehon, following the death of Anne Fehon, who sold the house thereafter to William Gunning, a manufacturers agent. It was transferred in 1921 to Ronald Beale, manufacturer. Beale was the owner until 1942 when it was transferred to Pan Pty Ltd. In 1951, part of the grounds of the house were subdivided, creating a lot now occupied by 31 Homebush Road.
The property was transferred to Sydney Legacy War Orphans Fund in December 1963. The property was transferred in July 1976 to Gabriel Kenneth Coorey of Strathfield, real estate agent and his wife Lorraine Coorey, as joint tenants. Coorey was an Alderman of Strathfield Council (1974-1983) and had served as Vice-Chairman of Council’s Library Committee 1978-1980. In November 1987, the property was transferred to Michael Fairley and Nomishad Fairley, as joint tenants.
References
Gunn, J (1989), Along Parallel Lines, Melbourne University Press
‘Death of W H Fehon’ (1911, February 6), Sydney Morning Herald, p8
NSW Land Registry
‘Mr W M Fehon’ (1905, October 7), New South Wales Railway Budget
Sands Sydney and Suburban Directory
