The mansion that is today “Auchendarroch” started out as the Oakfield Hotel, a two-storey establishment with eight main rooms, built for proprietor Lachlan Macfarlan (1806-1892) in 1860.  Macfarlan had arrived in Sydney from Scotland in 1839, and a year later overlanded a flock of sheep to South Australia for Mount Barker landowner Duncan Macfarlane (no relation, 1793-1856).  Macfarlan decided to stay and farm in the Mount Barker area, and in 1845 married Hahndorf woman Louise Lubasch (1824-1900).  His new hotel at the top of Gawler Street on his property “Oakfield” was handily placed to serve the mail coaches on their way to the main Murray crossing at Wellington. On summer evenings the sound of Macfarlan’s bagpipes could sometimes be heard floating over the town.

In 1878 businessman and philanthropist Robert Barr Smith (1824-1915) and his wife Joanna (née Elder, 1835-1919) bought the hotel to convert into a grand summer residence. Barr Smith had emigrated from Scotland to Melbourne in 1854.  The following year he moved to Adelaide to work at the mercantile and pastoral firm of Elder & Co., taking over management from George Elder. In 1856 he married George’s sister Joanna – with whom he would produce thirteen children – and by 1863 he and Thomas Elder had become sole partners in Elder Smith & Co. (now Elders Ltd.). At the time when they acquired the Oakfield, the Barr Smiths were amongst South Australia’s wealthiest and most prominent families.  

The alterations to the Oakfield were designed by architect John Grainger – father of musician Percy Grainger – for a cost of £10,200.  The resulting building was a 30-roomed Victorian mansion that was particularly noted for its fine interior features and William Morris furnishings. The Barr Smiths also established a substantial garden, featuring an orchard and many beautiful deciduous trees, in all covering some 42 acres. They renamed the house “Auchendarroch,” Gaelic for oakfield.

In 1922, three years after Joanna’s death, the property was purchased by the Methodist Church as a rest and convalescence home. It became a branch of North Adelaide’s Soldiers Memorial Hospital in 1935, and was requisitioned by the Red Cross and the RAAF for convalsecing returned soldiers during WWII.

In 1976 a group of seven families bought six acres of the property for $200,000, as the location for an alternative lifestyle community.  Self-contained units were created within the mansion, and the families shared the grand common areas.  The residents worked intensively in the gardens, which were the basis of their self-sustaining ethos.  The community functioned for sixteen years, closing down in 1992.

Wallis Theatres purchased the residence in 2000.  The Wallis family created a modern tavern and convention centre within the main house, and built an adjacent Cinema Complex. They also restored the exterior of the mansion, many parts of the interior, and the remaining gardens. Significant original features from the era of the Barr Smiths include William Morris “spring thicket” wallpaper, several tiled fireplaces with oak surrounds, a giant panelled door, and a grand staircase.  Today the house, which is a venue for weddings, functions and conventions, is a living monument to the lifestyles of Adelaide’s elite in the nineteenth century.  The gardens are open to the public.

The first photo below shows the view up Gawler Street to the Oakfield Hotel in 1865.  Hutchinson Street runs between the two closest buildings on the right.

The second photo shows the approach along Adelaide Road to Auchendarroch, when it was the summer residence of the Barr Smiths. (Click on photos to enlarge.)