Beau Sejour was built in 1938 on the site of a previous substantial house, Pozieres, owned by French wool merchant Charles Boggio. When Boggio returned to France in 1924, the house passed to his daughter Adele and son-in-law Georges Parmentier, also a woolbroker.

In 1938 the Parmentiers commissioned Mosman architect Adrian Ashton to design a new home for the site, in a modern ‘ocean liner’ style. The plan shows a home of two storeys, with entry through a porch flanked by rounded columns on either side with ‘Beau Sejour’ above. These columns served a practical as well as a decorative function, having water pipes and other utilities hidden within. The entry led to a large foyer and circular stairwell decorated with statues and other artworks, with a grand semi-circular marble staircase leading to the upper level. A wall of glass bricks ensured light poured into this area. The adjacent lounge, dining, smoking and sun rooms were surrounded outside by flagstone paths and a terrace with built-in flower boxes.

Upstairs were four bedrooms and a bathroom, the main bedroom having a separate adjoining bathroom, dressing room and sun deck.

A separate service area on the ground floor included the kitchen, laundry, delivery entrance, storage rooms and a small, self-contained flat for a maid. The basement below the maid’s quarters contained a tool room, a fuel stove for heating, and a cellar with a meat safe. The garage and rear entrance faced Shadforth Street at the back of the property.

Family members recall mature gardens, lawns where family parties were held, and a tennis court.

Descendants of the Parmentiers lived in Beau Sejour until the early 1960s. In 1964, a new owner’s application to Mosman Council to use the house as a nursing home was rejected. It was soon sold again, this time to builder Earle Cameron P/L who, in 1966, made an application to build an eight storey block of units. This was approved and the house was demolished. By July 1967 units in this block, also named Beau Sejour, were being advertised for sale.

Sources

Mosman Library – BA 38/216 (plan for 182 Raglan Street).

Mosman Library – BA/DA correspondence, 1964.

Marc Parmentier, Parmentier family reminiscences.

(Marc Parmentier)

Beau Sejour units, June 2015 (Phillipa Morris)

Phillipa Morris