Yester Grange Estate is an historic house and estate situated in the village of

Wentworth Falls Wentworth Falls (Postcodes in Australia, postcode: 2782) is a town in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales), Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, situated approximately west of the Sydney central business district, and about east of Katoo ...

, in the Blue Mountains approximately 95 kilometres west of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The house has a state heritage listing.State Heritage Register
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History and description

It is not known exactly when Yester Grange was built, but the land came into the ownership of prominent Sydney importer and builder John Charles Smith in 1888 and the main residence was most likely constructed before 1891. The house is built of

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...

wood from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and is surrounded by an estate measuring directly above the main waterfall at Wentworth Falls. The house overlooks the Jamison Valley. In 1902 the estate was purchased by NSW Premier Sir

John See Sir John See (14 October 184431 January 1907) was a member of the New South Wales Legislature from 26 November 1880 to 15 June 1901, and was then Premier of New South Wales from 1901 to 1904. See was a self-made man of strong character, ...

. See expanded the house by adding a ballroom and hosted large formal gatherings at the property. After his death in 1907, Yester Grange was retained as a holiday house by his family until 1938, when it was abandoned. The Grange remained vacant until 1944 when it was taken over by local council alderman Margery Anderson and her husband James. James Anderson sold the Grange in 1975 following the death of his wife two years previously. By now the house and grounds had fallen into disrepair and the new owners, Gil and Elizabeth Clarke, set about restoring the Grange to some element of its former glory. The Clarkes had previously owned a gallery in Sydney and established Yester Grange as a Victorian-period museum, opening the estate to

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

for the first time. Until 1999, the place was a popular destination for visitors. Since 1999 Yester Grange Estate has been owned by tourism and property investors Th
Crockett Group
Yester Grange Estate was closed to the general public while extensive restoration work was carried out. As of 2012, the house and grounds have been used as a premier wedding, functions, conference and events centre.

References

External links

Yester Grange website
Buildings and structures in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Houses in New South Wales Event venues in New South Wales {{NewSouthWales-geo-stub

History and description

See also

References

External links