Berith+Park,Wahroonga

Berith Park, 19 Billyard Avenue, Wahroonga, NSW 2076
[Previous Post: 2017 Most Popular Pages.... Next Post: Tudor Style]
 * Style: Federation Queen Anne style
 * Local Heritage Listed by KU-RING-GAI LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN 2015



Elaine, Berith Park, Fernhill Estate: saving Australian mansions
BEN WILMOT The Australian12:00AM May 6, 2017

Sydney-based corporate lawyer Karthika Gunalingam bought historic upper-north shore trophy estate **Berith Park** from former Coca-Cola Amatil managing director Warwick White and his wife Karen for more than $11m last year.
 * Berith Park, a master-built heritage home designed by Francis Ernest Stowe, is considered an architectural masterpiece, with grand interior living spaces ­flowing into manicured gardens.
 * The prized estate, sold through Ray White agents Elliott Placks and David Walker, needs little work.
 * “Every owner has treated it with such respect and I hope to do the same,” Gunalingam says of the Wahroonga home, which sports a pool, tennis court and golf driving range.
 * Read more: Elaine, Berith Park, Fernhill Estate: saving Australian mansions

=Berith Park sold for ... $11 million =

[|LUCY MACKEN] DOMAIN PRESTIGE REPORTER DEC 9, 2016   The historic upper north shore trophy estate Berith Park  sold on Friday afternoon (for 11 million). media type="custom" key="29520467" align="center"
 * The exact sales result is shrouded in mystery, leaving it to speculation as to whether it topped the upper north shore’s record house price of $11.5 million set in 2010.
 * Berith Park is one of the area’s prized estates, with an impressive line-up of previous owners dating back to its Federation origins when it was built by architect Francis Ernest Stowe. [[image:https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/LsBN_EjIZg51KyXswCobfTYjgbjSq5PsTIakdBgkXgnrLuFG43wzchd_fM0wf0OXYsMgczRXfIsj0lijAygE_xzSNDgSAv68LOVJajtr7ZAkUfzC5vCKcgtCQX4Z45Cg34YBjhI7ZaqWIl4FjTmrUzMqOrG-0PhIqP4F_dtduDMZqT2I3mzuqUphLkkvA8jrO8pdbGZCSHZOr8notLXFQAG3B0C-ZMfHYb2x3bi2qJmSJnYveZO6a-T-PUmuxamfu3xNeB_yJi75RlycT9CU2_TPAT16Wk8-HaCH3Y8bMwVtNqvgBJHpoNLT4K65TXeoMkRfnccAMHxnUo8QlyxSc5x8ctdTxevqLxJTyCDkHpZ7P739bd7TbeJjJEjBthkmQ4a7d_UDo5ZkQj7pdvHNtC1AocTeHYXrKH4L3idkbN2nLe95Vv2oga_xd7QHaptzelyezGLdWyl5aYNzy1Vb0g-5l9m6L350282T-7HFkUqHI19whWJODFiQiuo-8dDvCb4KRtFHDtER6-5eoB8LBLEx6y3HoaS8NCKxT2yYEFDeXotG-nh3JKXHVJe5BXK90gHxZ5TlckdRrOIoLfAqncys3lHckCFhmY25cfZz=w762-h429-no caption="The grounds at Berith Park, in Wahroonga, include a pool, a tennis court and a golf driving range."]]
 * Former Coca-Cola Amatil managing director Warwick White and his wife Karen [|listed the property in October] following their move to Ireland and White’s appointment heading up the international beverage giant Keurig Green Mountain.
 * Ray White agents Elliott Placks and David Walker were gagged by confidentiality orders from revealing the result, but confirmed it sold to a local family.
 * The 7583-square-metre property last traded in 2002 for $5.59 million when sold by CH Warman Group executive chairman Vivian King.

Berith Park resets Sydney’s north shore trophy market
[|LUCY MACKEN] , DOMAIN PRESTIGE REPORTER OCT 8, 2016  As grand entrances go, the drive through the stately gates and up the gravel drive to [|Berith Park and its landmark turret] is hard to beat.
 * But not impossible. Up the home’s main marble stairway and inside a mosaic-tiled foyer is a breath-taking central living space that acts as an impressive centrepiece to this exquisite home.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; vertical-align: baseline;">In short, soaring 10-metre-high ceilings with finely patterned plaster and stained glass clerestory windows flood the historic home with sunlight and show off the reinstated wall mouldings, the original wall light fittings, parquetry floors and an ornate fireplace.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">Unlike your usual l <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">ate Victorian heritage home, Berith Park <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">wears its history with lots of sunlight and a functional family floorplan.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">It was designed by architect Francis Ernest Stowe from 1897 to 1909 for Queensland merchant Alfred Smith, and in 1911 purchased by prominent businessman Sir Arthur Rickard and his wife Nellie, who added the tennis court, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; vertical-align: baseline;">a ballroom, ornamental lake and cricket oval.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">It was during this time that Berith Park was notably described as “one of the most comfortable living homes for Australian conditions”. >>> Alderman Crick, the Lord Mayor of Sydney was a founder of Fox Studios. >>> Berith Park was used extensively as a location in a number of films.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">Here is why:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">Spread over one level and set in the centre of a large parcel of land the central, light-filled living hall is the only living space that doesn’t overlook the surrounding landscaped garden through its myriad windows and verandahs.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">Off the entry is a more intimate lounge room, dubbed the “Lady Mayoress” room in the 1930s, in honour of Eleanor Ida Crick, wife of then owner and Sydney Lord Mayor Stanley Crick, who was managing director of the Hoyts Theatre cinema chain.

>> >> <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; vertical-align: baseline;">Flanking the other side of the house are six bedrooms, including a charming parents’ retreat set under the home’s turret with a built-in day bed, en suite and private verandah. >
 * A book-lined study sits <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">behind it, and shares the same garden outlook and verandah access as the adjoining formal dining room.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">The open-plan kitchen and family room at the rear was renovated about seven years ago and now features a vast marble-topped island benchtop at the centre, and the fireplace alcove now has an original Aga stove.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">Behind it is a powder room and an extensive utility space with a separate entry and impressive family-sized laundry.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">The second bedroom, sharing verandah access with the parents’ retreat, acts as an informal living room, there is a study with original curved feature wall and the sixth bedroom is a loft.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">A breezeway at the rear leads to the separate guest quarters built in the 1950s by the Catholic Church as a dining room for the Dominican sisters when it was used as a convent.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">In keeping with the home’s contemporary use, however, the separate quarters are now a billiard room and a gym downstairs, with a self-contained two-bedroom apartment above it.



<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; vertical-align: baseline;"> Landscape designer Annie Wilkes has been consulted on the surrounding garden, which includes three ornamental ponds and fountains, with resident koi.
 * The swimming pool looks new but dates back to before 1918, making it one of the oldest domestic pools in Sydney, and the championship-sized tennis court has synthetic grass and a half practice wall.
 * Despite the estate being subdivided and sold off for housing in 1937 and 1960, losing the lake in the process, the established trees and landscaping have created a beautifully private garden that retains hidden treasures, such as a golf driving range.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; vertical-align: baseline;"> For good reason the home has starred in movies and television shows, including a 1970s program called Ride On Stranger, as well as a more recent appearance on Home and Away and Love Child.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">The owner has taken care to preserve what was already a beautifully designed and historic Australian family home, restoring the high, detailed ceilings, original wall mouldings, plaster details and installing underfloor heating after that first, unforgettable winter in residence.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; vertical-align: baseline;">The result is not only a property that celebrates its almost 120-year history, but is far and away the jewel of the upper north shore’s trophy home offerings.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; vertical-align: baseline;">References


 * Berith Park sold for more than $11 million, fuels speculation of a new record high
 * [|Berith Park resets Sydney’s north shore trophy market]
 * Sale listing: [|19 Billyard Avenue, Wahroonga, NSW 2076]
 * The north shore home of former Coca-Cola Amatil head Warwick White has hit the market for $15M
 * Elaine, Berith Park, Fernhill Estate: saving Australian mansions
 * All accessed 30 Dec 2017