St Josephs Retreat

St Joseph's Retreat was built as the main clergy house for the Passionist Fathers. The south and west wings were constructed between 1874 and 1875, with the east wing completed shortly after, designed by F.W. Tasker. The building features white or grey and yellow brick arranged in English bond, topped with an Italian pantile roof. It stands three to four storeys high over a basement, with an eleven-window range on the south side. The design is inspired by an Italian country villa, complete with towers at the outer bays on the principal south side, and it encloses the east end of the original Passionist church.

On the south side, the ground floor showcases segmental-arched windows at the center, which are deeply recessed under segmental arches made of gauged brick. There are round-arched windows at both ends. The first-floor windows are flat-arched, with a central bay featuring a three-window range supported by thin columns and a moulded stucco cornice above the first floor. The second-floor windows are primarily flat-arched, except for the outer pair in the tower bays, which are round-arched. The towers have two flat-arched third-floor windows, and the building has deep eaves beneath hipped roofs.

To the east, there is a lower apsidal wing that extends off the return to Highgate Hill, forming a choir for the community, with a similar wing to the west. Additionally, there is a single-storey range added to Highgate Hill in 1960 by Alex Watson, constructed of yellow brick with banded rustication at the base, featuring a flat-arched entrance beneath a round arch and a parapet coped with composition stone, topped with a shaped gable over the entrance.