Houseboats at Pearl Bay

Nestled in the protected waters of Pearl Bay is one of the few remaining houseboats moored in Sydney Harbour, and a remnant of what used to be a significant flotilla of Mosman residences. Houseboats began emerging here in Pearl Bay since the early 1900s, and these early houseboats were weekend homes for Mosman’s wealthier residents. A 1909 Mosman houseboat was described in a newspaper advertisement as ‘most beautifully furnished…the whole scheme is luxuriant in the extreme.’[1]

Houseboats became more numerous during the 1920s as they were used by fisherman and during the 1930s due to financial hardship and the arrival of the Great Depression. By 1938, there were nine boats recorded at Pearl Bay.[2] This flotilla was a concern for local residents and Mosman Council, who ‘regarded them as marine versions of gypsy caravans.’[3] The Mayor, senior council members and the Maritime Services Board inspected the area in 1941, ‘following complaints to the Mosman Council about the mooring of houseboats in Pearl Bay,’ as the Sydney Morning Herald reported in June 1941.[4] Later in 1941, as a result of this inspection, the Maritime Services Board agreed to longer issue houseboat licenses for the area and went on to create extra rules and requirements for accepted license renewals in 1952.[5] The number of houseboats in Pearl Bay dwindled down to four in the early 2000s, then to three, and since 2020, only one currently remains. The current remaining houseboat was previously owned by Australian businessman John Singleton and was nominated for the Heritage Conservation category of the 2017 Mosman Design Awards.[6]

The impacts of the Great Depression during the were also evident at Pearl Bay on the grass flats. A cluster of ‘ramshackle shacks’ were erected around the area, beginning with eight in 1930, and increasing to twenty-four by 1934.[7] A water supply and sanitation services were supplied to the area by Mosman Council in 1931, to ‘safeguard the health not only of the campers but of the community.’[8]

[1] “Houseboats for Sydney Harbour,” Claremont and Richmond Examiner, February 27, 1909, p. 3, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61536962>, accessed 11 October 2021.

[2] “Mosman’s Houseboats,” Mosman Historical Society, February 17, 2021, <https://mosmanhistoricalsociety.org.au/blogs/mhs-blog/mosmans-houseboats>, accessed 21 November 2021.

[3] Souter, Mosman, p.290.

[4] “Peal Bay Houseboats,” The Sydney Morning Herald, June 11, 1941, p. 8, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17753839>, accessed 19 October 2021.

[5] Mosman’s Houseboats,” Mosman Historical Society

[6] “2017 Heritage Conservation Nominations,” Mosman Design Awards,

<http://mosmandesignawards.com.au/2017/nominations>, accessed 21 November 2021.

[7] Souter, Mosman, p. 193.

[8] Souter, Mosman, p. 193.