Point Piper, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Point Piper
city = Sydney
state = nsw


caption = Seven Shillings Beach
lga = Municipality of Woollahra
postcode = 2027
pop = 1,386 (2001) [Census 2001 AUS|id=SSC12926|name=Point Piper (State Suburb)|accessdate=2007-06-30|quick=on]
area =
propval =
stategov =
fedgov =
near-nw =
near-n = "Port Jackson"
near-ne =
near-w = Darling Point
near-e = Rose Bay
near-sw = Double Bay
near-s = Bellevue Hill
near-se = Bellevue Hill
dist1 = 6
dir1 = east
location1= Sydney CBD

Point Piper is a small harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Point Piper is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra.

Location

The suburb of Point Piper is located 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, Wolseley Road, Wolseley Crescent, Wingadal Place, Wentworth Place, Wentworth Street, Wunulla Road, Wyuna Road. [Gregory's Sydney Street Directory, Gregory's Publishing Company, 2007]

History

Point Piper was named after Captain John Piper (1773-1851). Piper was a Scottish-born military officer, who arrived in the colony in 1792 and built a neo-Palladian mansion on the point, on convert|190|acre|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 (then Major) John George Nathaniel Gibbes, 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, or Naval, Villa) until 1844, when they moved to "Wotonga" on Kirribilli Point. Wotonga now forms part of Admiralty House. Unfortunately, Point Piper House was torn down in the 1850s and the site redeveloped. [ "The Book of Sydney Suburbs", Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8, page 206 ]

Commercial area

Point Piper does not have a commercial area, and has few amenities or public facilities. The closest commercial areas are in nearby suburbs such as Rose Bay and Double Bay.

Beaches and reserves

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

Clubs

* Scots College rowing shed - off Wolseley Road
* The exclusive Royal Motor Yacht Club - 21 Wunulla Road
* Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club

Population

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 sqm 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 1km waterfront section of Wolseley Road was AUD$720 million. [cite web | author=Cindy Martin| title="Extreme Sydney, Wealthiest" | publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald | year=2002 | url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/23/1040511004130.html]

John Symond's mansion on Wingadal Place, reportedly cost over $70M to build (excluding land), easily making it Australia's most expensive, privately owned residential home. [cite web | author=SMH| title="Boom's glittering prize" | publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald | year=2006 | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/cleveles/booms-glittering-prize/2006/12/11/1165685617387.html] In 2007, Altona (Australia's second most expensive house) was listed for more than AUD$50 million. [cite web | author=SMH| title="Crowe eyes $50m home" | publisher=Courier Mail | year=2007 | url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21917071-5012980,00.html]

Craig-y-Mor is a non-waterfront house on Wolseley Road. Australia's second most expensive residential property, it sold in 2008 for $32.4 million. It was previously owned by Rene Rivkin, who sold it to businessman Ben Tilley in 2004 for $16.15 million. The house has has six bedrooms and a nine-car garage. [cite web | author=Jonathan Chancellor| title="$32m for Rivkin Point Piper pile" | publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald | year=2008 | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/32m-for-rivkin-point-piper-pile/2008/03/13/1205126112305.html]

Notable residents

Point Piper is an affluent residential area, home to many prominent Australians including:
* Malcolm Turnbull, Federal Opposition Leader and Member for Wentworth
* Frank Lowy - The Westfield Group founder and boss
* John Symond - Founder of Aussie Home Loans
* Bob Hawke - Former Labor Prime Minister [cite web | author=Laura Tiernan| title="Hawke praises Rudd" | publisher=wsws.org | year=2008 | url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/mar2008/100d-m13.shtml]
* Julia Ross - Recruitment executive, Ross Human Directions Ltd. [cite web | author=Refined Living| title="Point Piper" | publisher=Refined Living | year=2007 | url=http://www.refinedliving.com.au/Point%20Piper.html]
* Denis James O'Neil - Developer and former Olympian [cite web | author=SMH| title="Really rich man claims to be poor, Matt O'Sullivan's a poor man who admits he's poor." | publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald | year=2007 | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/really-rich-man-claims-to-be-poor/2007/06/25/1182623823408.html]

Notable former residents

* Rene Rivkin - Stockbroker (deceased)
* Sir Frank "the bank" Renouf - New Zealand financier (deceased)
* Lachlan Murdoch - Elder son of media mogul, Rupert Murdoch [cite web | author=Jonathan Chancellor| title="Sale nets Murdochs a quick $2.2m" | publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald | year=2005 | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Sale-nets-Murdochs-a-quick-22m/2005/03/09/1110316095417.html]

References

External links