Point Piper, New South Wales facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Point Piper Sydney, New South Wales
Point Piper
Population	1,424 (2016 census)
• Density	3,650/km2 (9,500/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	2027
Area	0.39 km2 (0.2 sq mi)
Location	6 km (4 mi) east of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	Municipality of Woollahra
State electorate(s)	Vaucluse
Federal Division(s)	Wentworth
Suburbs around Point Piper: Port Jackson Darling Point Point Piper Rose Bay Double Bay Bellevue Hill Bellevue Hill

Lady Martin's Beach

Seven Shillings Beach

Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 6 kilometres (4 mi) east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra.

Point Piper has been historically regarded as Australia's most expensive suburb. In 2011, Wolseley Road was ranked as the ninth-most expensive street in the world, at $38,900 per square metre.

Location

The suburb of Point Piper sits on Sydney Harbour, beside the suburbs of Rose Bay, Bellevue Hill and Double Bay. The streets in Point Piper are: Buckhurst Avenue, Longworth Avenue, New South Head Road, Redvers Street, Saint Mervyn's Avenue, Wolseley Road, Wolseley Crescent, Wingadal Place, Wentworth Place, Wentworth Street, Wunulla Road, and Wyuna Road.

History

Point Piper was named after Captain John Piper (1773–1851). Piper was a Scottish-born military officer of Cornish parentage, who arrived in the colony in 1792 and built a neo-Palladian mansion on the point, on 190 acres (0.77 km²) of land granted by the governor in 1816. After a review of Piper's performance as head of the Customs Department showed that he had mismanaged funds (although he was not actually accused of being corrupt), Piper attempted to drown himself in Sydney Harbour. He subsequently sold his holdings at Point Piper, Rose Bay, Neutral Bay, and Petersham for £5,000 and moved to the country.

In 1834, Piper's former residence was leased by Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes (1787-1873), the newly arrived Collector of Customs for New South Wales and a Crown appointee to the colony's Legislative Council. Colonel Gibbes and his family resided at Point Piper House (also known as "Henrietta Villa" or "Naval Villa") until 1844, when they moved to Wotonga, on Kirribilli Point. Wotonga now forms part of Admiralty House. Point Piper House was eventually torn down in the 1850s and the site was redeveloped.

Beaches and reserves

• Duff Reserve, off Wolseley Road, deep water point, popular for weddings and picnics
• Lady Martin's Beach, Wunulla Road
• Seven Shillings Beach, off New South Head Road
• Redleaf Pool, off New South Head Road, on Seven Shillings Beach

Population

Point Piper, in combination with Darling Point, Edgecliff and Rushcutters Bay, was named as the wealthiest area in Australia, according to information from the Australian Tax Office in 2013.

Housing

Point Piper is home to some of the most expensive and exclusive homes in Australia. There are only eleven streets in Point Piper; the main road is Wolseley Road. The price per square meter of real estate in Point Piper is one of the most expensive in the world; property writer Cindy Martin calculated in 2002 that the total value of the properties on the 1 km waterfront section of Wolseley Road was $720 million.

John Symond's mansion on Wingadal Place, reportedly cost over $70 million to build (excluding land), easily making it Australia's most expensive, privately owned residential home. In 2007, Altona, located in Wunulla Road and Australia's second-most expensive house, was listed for more than $50 million. It was sold in 2013 for a price thought to be more than $50 million, which was a Sydney record.

Craig-y-Mor is a non-waterfront house on Wolseley Road. Australia's second-most expensive residential property, it was sold in 2008 for $32.4 million to the Chinese buyers Zeng Wei and Jiang Mei. It was previously owned by Rene Rivkin, who sold it to businessman Ben Tilley in 2004 for $16.15 million. The house has six bedrooms and a nine-car garage. The property was demolished in 2014 after the decision by the local municipality to deny this was overturned by a state judge.

Wolseley Road is the world's ninth-most expensive residential street at up to $38,000 per square meter.

Notable residents

• Frank Lowy - Westfield Group founder and boss
• John Symond - founder of Aussie Home Loans
• Malcolm Turnbull - Prime Minister and wife Lucy, businesswoman and former Lord Mayor of Sydney

Notable former residents

• Jimmy Bancks, the creator of Ginger Meggs, lived at Deloraine until 1 July 1952, when he died from a heart attack the age of 63.
• Chris Corrigan - Qube Holdings chairman
• Neville Crichton - car dealer
• Bruce Jackson (deceased) - audio engineer, who lived in the mansion Altona in his youth
• Lachlan Murdoch - businessman and wife Sarah
• Sir Frank Renouf - New Zealand financier (deceased) and wife Susan Renouf
• Rene Rivkin - stockbroker (deceased)
• Doctor Frank Tidswell and his wife Edith lived at Deloraine, next to Duff Reserve

View of Point Piper from Sydney Harbour

Notable residents

• Jimmy Bancks (?? – 1952), the creator of Ginger Meggs, lived at Deloraine until 1 July 1952, when he died from a heart attack the age of 63.
• Edgar Bainton (?? – 1956), British-born composer and conductor.
• Sir Daniel Cooper, 1st Baronet, colonial merchant and politician, started construction of Woollahra House
• Chris Corrigan, Qube Holdings chairman
• Neville Crichton, car dealer
• John George Nathaniel Gibbes, a resident of Point Piper House
• Bruce Jackson (deceased), audio engineer, who lived in the mansion Altona in his youth
• Sir Frank Lowy AC, former Westfield Group founder and chairman
• Sir Charles Mackellar KCMG (1844 – 1926), an Australian politician and surgeon
• Dorothea Mackellar OBE (1885 – 1968), Australian poet best known for My Country, born at Dunara, in Point Piper
• Lady Martin, Isabella Martin, estranged wife of Sir James Martin, Premier of New South Wales lived in Woollahra House
• Sir William McMahon, Prime Minister of Australia and wife Lady McMahon
• Lachlan Murdoch, businessman and wife Sarah
• John Piper (1773 – 1851), a colonial military officer who received the first land grant in the area
• Sir Frank Renouf, New Zealand financier (deceased) and wife Susan Renouf
• Rene Rivkin, stockbroker (deceased)
• John Symond, founder of Aussie Home Loans
• Doctor Frank Tidswell and his wife Edith, lived at Deloraine, next to Duff Reserve
• Malcolm Turnbull, former Prime Minister and wife Lucy, businesswoman and former Lord Mayor of Sydney
• Mike Cannon-Brookes, billionaire co-founder of Atlassian

View of Point Piper from Sydney Harbour

Images for kids

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  Point Piper House (also called Henrietta Villa) 1840s