Sir William a'Beckett, Chief Justice of Victoria, and his wife were the first owners of Clarendon House. They personally selected furniture and fittings for it while travelling in Italy but did not remain in it long. From 1862 to1877 Clarendon House was the home of Edward Cohen, MLA, mayor of Melbourne 1862-1865, merchant, and Jewish community leader, and brother-in-law of Sir Benjamin Benjamin, and then of his family until the early 1900s. An early photo shows that the house originally had a hipped roof and a lighter, more colonial looking veranda and balcony. But about 1886 the Cohens undertook considerable renovations which created a colonnaded balcony and a balustrade around the roofline. In later years the house was converted for use as a nurses home prior to its demolition to make way for the Mercy Maternity Hospital.