Rona renaissance: Rare history on offer in Bellevue Hill

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Behind the wrought-iron gates and original gatehouse that fronts Rona’s Ginahgulla Road entry is a meandering gravel driveway that winds past three towering, state-significant trees.

Anywhere else such magnificent century-old strangler fig, kauri pine and Norfolk pines would dwarf the nearest home, but in the case of the gothic revival residence that comes into view beyond the end of the driveway it gives a sense of the history on offer.

It is a breathtaking first vision of the trophy home that has long been listed among Sydney’s finest estates and is now set to reclaim that status thanks to an extensive renovation of the property that celebrates both its history and the best of contemporary family living.

The Victorian rustic gothic style residence was built in 1883 and designed by architect Gustavus Morell for industrialist Edward Knox.

There were modifications in 1905 by architect William Waddell jnr after it was damaged by fire, and again in the early 1950s as successive generations of the Knox family took up residence in separate compartments off a central courtyard.

Knox’s descendants sold it in 1989 for $9.6 million to art collector and businessman John Schaeffer, who undertook his own restoration work before he sold it to property developer Terry Agnew and his wife Kyril in 2005.

What was a pokey and segregated floor plan has had a large-scale renovation and restoration since then into what is now that rare breed of historic home with a function and light-filled interiors.

Central to such an achievement is the sandstone entry hall and the large glass dome that tops what was previously a courtyard. Gone are the separate stairwells to different wings and instead one staircase leads to a cantilevered walkway that interconnects the bedrooms.

The result leaves all but two rooms to overlook one of Bellevue Hill’s best views spanning from the Opera House and Harbour Bridge across to Mosman in the north.

Scoring prime position to those harbour views is adjoining formal dining and living rooms, a casual lounge room, and an open-plan marble kitchen and family room that also opens to the wraparound garden.

Behind the kitchen is a scullery and teen retreat with stone paving that gives a nod to the glass-fronted swimming pool outside.

The home’s original details are everywhere, from the exposed sandstone walls to the timber and parquetry floors, high skirting boards, original kauri ceilings, marble fireplaces, bay windows and delightful timber rosettes in the joinery.

The original details continue upstairs, but with peaked arched doorways to the bedrooms, including the parents’ retreat in the home’s north-east corner with his and hers dressing rooms and en suites (hers with one of the best views from any bath in Sydney).

A formal lounge room set across the entry hall with soaring five-metre high ceilings, french doors, and an impressive stone fireplace mantel is an ideal entertaining area thanks to a second kitchen behind it and the entertaining terrace outside.

Below is a temperature-controlled cellar, tasting room and access to the five-car garage that opens to the home’s Fairfax Road entry.

The two-year project is a clever remake of the floor plan with its eclectic mix of original and reinstated finishes that was overseen by Kyril Agnew and architect Simon Hanson, of Bureau SRH.

Kyril interviewed descendants of the original owners, who were able to describe the atmosphere of the house and its gothic feel.

“We wanted to be true to that history but it also needed to be a family home that could be lived in and was full of light,” she said.

The garden is no slouch either. The gravel driveway connects entry gates at both Ginahgulla Road and Fairfax Road. Beyond the grassed championship tennis court and a swimming pool is what was once a tiered front garden that has scored enough landfill to create a sloping lawn.

The original guesthouse is a self-contained home with separate living areas, two bedrooms and a private courtyard. It’s the sort of home that belongs among Woollahra’s high-end listings, if it wasn’t set at the estate’s gates among those historic trees that are a remnant of Rona’s once extensive gardens.

2 Ginahgulla Road, Bellevue Hill
8 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 5 car spaces
Land 5700 square metres
Inspect By appointment
Agents: Bart Doff, of Laing+Simmons Double Bay, 0418616 600; Ben Collier, of McGrath Estate Agents, 0414 646 476.

Bart Doff: “This is truly one of Sydney’s finest residential estates. A trophy residence of unparalleled prestige, size and significance. Set on over 5700 square metres in the best position and with the best harbour views Bellevue Hill has to offer.”

Ben Collier: “One of the surprising things that makes this property one of Sydney’s finest is that as well as its sheer grandeur and views is its close proximity to the village in Double Bay, Redleaf Pool and both Cranbrook School and Scots College. Bellevue Hill properties are rarely credited for their central location, but at this end of the suburb on the north-west hillside that’s exactly what’s on offer.”

Start of video transcript

One of Sydney’s finest residential estates, Rona, is a residence of unparalleled prestige, grandeur, size, and significance. Set on over 5,700 square meters in the best position of Bellevue Hill, the resplendent circa 1883 sandstone mansion provides the ultimate in luxury family living and grand-scale entertaining with unrivalled space, exceptional privacy, and panoramic harbour views from the CBD skyline, Opera House, and Harbour Bridge to Manly and the Heads.

Meticulously finished to the highest standards, the resort-style property features magnificent landscaped gardens, expansive sun-drenched lawns, alfresco entertainment and barbecue terraces, north-south lawn tennis court, swimming pool, and a separate three-bedroom guesthouse. Multiple visitor parking is provided within the grounds on private driveways leading to a secure five-car garage with direct internal access to the home.

Elegant and timeless, the superbly appointed residence impresses with its easy-flowing layout designed for comfortable family living and grand-scale indoor-outdoor entertaining for small groups or hundreds of guests. With a warm and welcoming ambiance, the home features a vast double-height entrance hall, formal living room with adjacent butler’s kitchen, formal dining room, a library and study, family room, casual living and dining areas, and a gourmet gas kitchen with state-of-the-art appliances and adjacent scullery.

Upstairs are a huge main bedroom suite with harbour views, open fireplaces, walk-in wardrobe, and his and hers Calcutta marble en-suite bathrooms, three more spacious double bedrooms. At basement level is a temperature-controlled wine cellar.

Beautifully recreated for contemporary convenience and a luxury lifestyle with all the mod cons including ducted reverse cycle air conditioning and hydronic heated stone floors, the house is fresh, large, and airy while also retaining appealing heritage elegance with original open fireplaces, Kauri ceilings, Kauri doors and joinery, and stone-flagged outdoor terraces with mesmerizing harbor views.

Built of Sydney sandstone for Edward William Knox of the prominent CSR sugar family, Rona was designed in the Victorian rustic gothic revival style by architect G.A. Morell. It is located only a short stroll to Double Bay Village, Redleaf, the Scots College, and Cranbrook School.