With the reclamation of the shoreline and the development of New Wharf, now Princes Wharf No1, in the 1830s, Montpelier Retreat became home to a close-knit working class community. Considered the underclass to many, the residents worked on the docks and had large families and little money. 

Children could be found playing amongst the alleyways of Salamanca and big community bonfires were often held. The impoverished conditions were a far cry from the homes of Mona Street in Grande Vue’s neighbourhood, but it was not uncommon at the time for properties of the upper echelon of society to be built within easy reach of the working class staffing the home.

Montpelier Retreat is just a short stroll from Grande Vue, taking our guests down to the popular bars, restaurants and galleries of the Salamanca strip. Many of the original buildings continue to line the street, with an archaeological excavation in 2015 unearthing dozens of artefacts from early European settlement, including gun flint, clay pipes and arrowhead bricks. This dig also uncovered a number of Aboriginal artefacts and part of a midden.