IdentifierPhoto 01058Datec.917Photographernot specifiedKeywordsHornsbyMarcus ClarkHistoric houses and buildingsMount WilgaDescriptionIn 1907 Georgina Clark, wife of (Henry) Marcus Clark, purchased 49 acres of land across Rosamond and Sylvia Streets and the present-day Watson Avenue, Hornsby, which was part of the Samuel Gray land grant. Later that year, Marcus Clark purchased nearly 27 acres, south of Summers Avenue, of the 1836 Higgins grant.
(Henry) Marcus Clark was an Australian businessman who built a retailing empire known as Marcus Clark & Co. featuring a chain of Marcus Clark department stores. Due to poor health, Marcus decided to retire from business in 1911 and build two new homes – one in Mt Wilson for the summer and one in Hornsby for the winter. Clark planned that ‘Mount Wilga’ in Hornsby would be a larger version of the Mt Wilson house.
In 1908 he built the long suspension bridge over a deep valley as a pedestrian way to Hornsby from his property. The bridge was demolished after being damaged in the 1957 bushfires. Construction of ‘Mount Wilga’ named after the Wilga tree, an evergreen and drought resistant tree which impressed Clark whilst he was a jackeroo in his early days in Australia, commenced in early 1913. Sadly, only the stone foundations were down when Marcus died in March 1913. His widow finished the house as he had planned it and moved in during July 1914, before completion. A cook and two housemaids lived in, a chauffeur lived in rooms attached to the garage, and a laundress and two gardeners lived out. The family left ‘Mount Wilga’ in 1919 because Mrs Clark found it too large and too isolated.
The land and house have heritage significance to the Hornsby Shire and both are listed as a National Trust Property. The manor house, which is on the land adjacent to where the current Mt Wilga Private Hospital stands, is located in Rosamond Street.
NOTE: Mt Wilga Manor house is privately owned and is not open to the public.
In this image, his daughter Marcia is the small child on the verandah.Physical FormatPhotograph
