Callan Park was initially a combination of purchases by Crown Solicitor and Police Magistrate John Ryan Brenan. In 1839 he bought what he then named the Garry Owen Estate.
Brenan’s residence, Garry Owen House, built c1840 and possibly designed by Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis, was on an elevation overlooking the Parramatta River, with a tree lined avenue (part of which survives) from wrought iron gates on Balmain Road through spacious gardens.
For many years the house was the Nurses Training School for Callan Park (later Rozelle) Hospital. Today the Greek Revival style house is the home of the NSW Writers’ Centre.