[1] Highroyd was built by John Young, a builder who migrated from England in 1855 and worked in the state of Victoria for some time before settling in Sydney in 1866.

[5] With the depression of the 1890s, Annandale was subdivided and its character began to change, putting paid to Young's dream of a prestige suburb.

The witches houses were divided into flats; Rozelle and Claremont were demolished and replaced with blocks of home units.

Architect David Springett began to work for them on the restoration of the house, which involved undoing a great deal of damage and defacement that had accumulated over the years.

The restoration of Highroyd took twenty years and resulted in the house being entered in the heritage category of Australian Institute of Architects New South Wales awards for 2009.