Ryde House was built at Ryde from 1841 to 1844 by James Devlin. Its design is attributed to William Weaver. The house is completed in the Colonial Georgian architectural style.
The land on which the house was built was originally part of a 1794 land grant to John Small and was acquired by James Devlin in 1828 through a rearrangement of family holdings. Devlin and his neighbour, James Shepherd, had some 40 lots surveyed in a subdivision they named the Village of Ryde, with Devlin’s “East Ryde” facing St. Anne’s Church and Shepherd’s “West Ryde” facing the road to Parramatta.
Devlin’s new Ryde House was constructed soon after the subdivision and crowned the ridge between the two precincts. The name Ryde was used by James Devlin in his subdivision to honour the new Anglican Minister, Rev. George Turner, whose wife was a native of the English Ryde.
The house is a colonial, two storey Georgian house, with an encircling ground floor verandah, that is constructed of brick and supported by stone Roman Doric columns. The verandah plate has a valance and a fanlit front door. At the rear, the encircling verandah is broken by two single storeyed wings which extend back and form a courtyard.
Devlin was declared bankrupt in 1844 but was released from insolvency in 1845. However, the Devlin family continued to live at Ryde until 1873.
Pictorial Postmarks
Ryde NSW 2112
