Vaucluse, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Vaucluse
city = Sydney
state = NSW

---

caption = Harbour view from Vaucluse
lga = Waverley Council, Municipality of Woollahra
postcode = 2030
est =
pop =
area =
propval = [http://www.domain.com.au/public/SuburbProfile.aspx?mode=buy&searchterm=Vaucluse $2,767,500] (2007)
stategov = Vaucluse
fedgov = Wentworth
near-nw =
near-n = Watsons Bay
near-ne =
near-w = "Port Jackson"
near-e = "Tasman Sea"
near-sw = Rose Bay
near-s = Rose Bay
near-se = Dover Heights
dist1 = 9
dir1 = north-east
location1= Sydney CBD

Vaucluse is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Vaucluse is located convert|8|km|mi|0 north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Waverley Council and the Municipality of Woollahra.

Location

Vaucluse is located on the South Head peninsula, with Sydney Harbour on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east. The Sydney Harbour side of the suburb commands views across the harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The adjacent suburbs are Watsons Bay, to the north and Rose Bay and Dover Heights to the south.

Vaucluse is a mainly residential suburb. For many years, it was the most affluent suburb in Sydney and in terms of houses and properties is still in the top five most expensive suburbs.

Landmarks

The Macquarie Lighthouse sits prominently on the eastern side of the suburb, at Dunbar Head. Vaucluse House is a historic home managed by the Historic Houses Trust in Wentworth Road with views across Sydney Harbour.

History

Before European settlement the area where Vaucluse is now located was inhabitabed by the Birrabirragal aboriginal clan, who belonged to the coastal Dharug language group. The first European settlement of the area was in 1790, when a flagstaff was erected at South Head to serve as a landmark for ships arriving at the heads. [cite web | author=Woollahra Library| title="A Brief History of Woollahra" | year=2006 | url=http://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/library/local_history www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au]

Vaucluse takes its name from historic Vaucluse House. The original Vaucluse House was built by Sir Henry Browne Hayes, who had been transported to New South Wales for kidnapping the daughter of a wealthy Irish banker’s daughter. When he arrived, in 1802, he was allowed to buy land from that which was granted to Thomas Laycock in 1793 and Robert Cardell in 1795. The house was then acquired by Captain John Piper in 1822. Sir Henry Browne Hayes, an avid admirer of the 14th century poet Petrarch, named the house after Petrarch's poem about the famous Fontaine de Vaucluse near the town l'Isle sur la Sorgue in what is today the Department of Vaucluse in Southern France. The small but charming cottage was later taken over by William Charles Wentworth (1790-1872), barrister and explorer, in 1827. Many structural changes and additions were made while he lived there until 1853. The building has fifteen bedrooms and is in the 1830s Gothic style and sits on 27 acres (11 hectares) of gardens. The house is open to the public.

Houses

Tahiti, a Hawaiian-style residence in tropical gardens above Hermit Bay, set Australian residential record when it sold to a trio of South Africans (the Krok brothers) for more than $29 million in September 2007. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/topical-paradise-fetches-29m/2007/09/28/1190486569822.html Topical paradise fetches $29m - National - smh.com.au ] ]

References

*"The Book of Sydney Suburbs", Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8

External links

* Google
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=vaucluse&ie=UTF8&ll=-33.856803,151.278906&spn=0.031148,0.063&z=14&om=1 Vaucluse]
* Historic Houses Trust [http://www.hht.net.au/museums/vaucluse_house/main Vaucluse House] Mapit-AUS-suburbscale|long=151.27120|lat=-33.85582