Dalry House

The House with the View

Dalry House (also known as Dalry and Dalry Heights) was a stone house completed in 1913 on the corner of Lionel Road Darlington, Western Australia, and the eponymous Dalry Road.

The maker of the house was a John Neilson who was a member of the Darlington parish of the then Presbyterian church.

Anecdotal and archival materials identify the lounge room was used by the church for services.

It was located at the end of a ridge that extended out above the Darlington village and railway line, and a steep hill that descended to the railway station, churches and collection of shops known as the village.

The house and surrounds were renovated and altered extensively in the 1940's and 1950's by the owners of the time the Grey family. They had also been involved with the house being utilised as a nursing home for TB sufferers, and in the 1950s as a guest house.

In the 1960's the house and surround were repaired and worked upon by Sam Hort, who used to walk from his residence at the other side of Darlington despite being in his 80s at the time. He did repairs to both walls of the house and retaining walls and paths around the house. At the same time an extensive native plant garden was established, utilising the stock and resources of nurseries in Perth of the 1960s. A significant number of eucalypt trees were established as well including what were identified as rare in that era.

In the early 2000's the house underwent extensive repairs and maintenance work, and the early 1960's garden was also modified and driveways and walls added in a range of locations.

In the late 2000's the house and surround were extensively altered by the owners of the time. The growth of vegetation at the fence line now conceals the house and the gardens.