[1] Newcastle East, where Coutts Sailor Home is located, is a historically significant area, with several sites associated with the early penal settlement and maritime history, including: Australia's first mine, together with the Hunter Region's first hospital, original fort; first signal station, first primitive lighthouse, first gaol; and the Convict Lumber Yard, situated very close to the study site and extending across its north western corner.

Piloting, lighthouse keeping, life boat services, tug boat services, customs administration - with the Newcastle Customs House built in 1876 - wharf labouring and ship chandlering have flourished in the eastern section of Newcastle, establishing strong links with the sea and maritime activities, with which Coutts Sailors' Home is also associated.

References were made to sailors' homes that had been built in Britain, from the 1860s, such as 'a fine building designed for the port of Liverpool and the late Prince Albert, who took so much interest in matters affecting the social well-being of the people.

By the 1860s such institutions were considered essential to any sizeable British port, providing clean, comfortable, inexpensive board and lodging for sailors and other persons of all nationalities employed in sea-going ships and vessels.

[5][1] In 1880, Reverend James Coutts M.A., who had come to St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in 1861 as Minister, began to agitate for a sailors' home to be established in Newcastle.

One such appeal stressed the regard and esteem accorded seamen and their importance to Newcastle: "It may be urged what are sailors more than other men that citizens should trouble about them more than any other class.

Our magnificent coal fields would be comparatively valueless were it not for the readiness of our sailors to take our staple commodity away in all weathers, Jack has to be at his post and at every risk must use his best endeavours to bring his ship to port.

Shipping in the port and all buildings were decorated with flags and bunting and large numbers of people came from all the outlying areas to witness the ceremony.

At the ceremony, a bottle was placed in the cavity beneath the foundation stone containing Newcastle and Sydney newspapers of the day, coins and other details of those associated with the building.

A broad and ornate staircase with a continuous cedar hand rail leads to the upper section, which consists of 6 bedrooms capable of accommodating, without overcrowding, about 70 persons.

'[9][1] In June 1883 a tea party was held to introduce Sailors to the home and was attended by about 500 people, including women representing each church in Newcastle.

[13][1] In 1936, Jeater, Rodd and Hay, honorary architects for Newcastle Hospital, were instructed to prepare plans for converting the Home into a clinic for Sister Elizabeth Kenny.

In 1940 the Government of New South Wales sent Kenny to America to present her clinical method for treating polio victims to American doctors.

[16][1] During the alterations required to convert the building to the headquarters of NSW State Government Departments in Newcastle, the Superintendent's verandah was demolished.

[18][1] In 1990 a Permanent Conservation Order was placed on the adjacent convict lumber yard and in 1992 the former Coutts Sailors' Home was listed on Schedule 2 of the Hunter Regional Environment Plan.

In 1996 a Plan of Management for a Community Resource Centre was prepared for a joint venture between Newcastle City Council and the State Government.

The verandah extends the full length of the north facade and is divided in five divisions by decorative cast iron columns and infilled at either end with light weight construction.

The cast iron columns of this verandah, including those of the ground floor, remain intact, providing tangible evidence of the classical detailing afforded this residence.

[1] To the east of the Superintendent's residence part of the rear of the Sailor's Home is visible, with various unsympathetic additions such as infilled balcony and a car port.

[1] The interior layout of the 1882 Sailors' Home is symmetrical with a central loaded corridor which provides access to a sequence of three rooms on each side.

[24][1] The interior plan of the Superintendent's Residence is asymmetrical with a corridor on the [west] at both floors providing access to a sequence of three rooms at both levels.

The site is chiefly significant for its role as a Sailors' Home, reflecting the importance of Newcastle's maritime history and representing an international benevolent movement concerned with the welfare of seamen in British ports throughout the world that developed in the 1860s.

[1] Established in 1882 through private and public philanthropic efforts, Coutts Sailors' Home was the only other such institution established outside Sydney, making it rare in NSW and possibly Australia and reflecting Newcastle's status as a major national and international port and also the esteem with which sailors and seamen were held by the community at a time when shipping was crucial to international trade and communication.

[1] The Sailors' Home is one of several buildings in the Newcastle East precinct, including the Customs House, which reflect the historic links that the area has with maritime activities.

The site has been associated with a number of individuals of significance to Newcastle, NSW and Australia including founder, Reverend James Coutts; architects George Brown and Frederick Menkens; and Sister Elizabeth Kenny.

At a local level, the buildings are aesthetically significant as one of the largest and most intact examples of the Victorian Italianate architectural style in this part of Newcastle.

[1] The Superintendent's residence built in 1897 is associated with renowned Newcastle architect, Frederick Menkens, who was responsible for several notable buildings in the region.

The former Sailors' Home and Superintendent's residence are architecturally significant as substantially intact examples of the Victorian Italianate style of the late nineteenth century.

The outrage expressed in the 1980s at the discovery that the former chapel had been converted to a lavatory, and demands for its re-instatement provides some indication that the site and its history are valued by the local community.

The buildings are representative of the Victorian Italianate style of architecture and the Sailors' Home is one of the largest and most intact examples in this area of Newcastle.