''Rona'' is a historic house in the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburb of Bellevue Hill,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. The house is listed on the (now defunct) Australian

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

and is listed on the

Municipality of Woollahra Woollahra Municipal Council (or Woollahra Council) is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is bounded by Port J ...

local government heritage list. The house is situated in the northern end of the suburb and sold for 58 million in 2018, making it one of Australia's most expensive homes at the time.

The estate

Rona was originally a estate and was sub-leased from Frederick Tooth, a member of the Tooth family of Cranbrook, by Sir Edward Knox, the founder of

CSR Limited CSR Pty Ltd is a major Australian industrial company, producing building products and has a 25% share in the Tomago aluminium smelter located near Newcastle, New South Wales. It is a subsidiary of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. In 2021, it h ...

. It was bought in 1880 by Knox's son, William Knox, and William Oswald Gilchrist. Knox Jnr and his brother, Tom, built ''Rona'' and ''Leura'' respectively and in 1900 Gilchrist sold to Sir Colin Stephen who built ''Llanillo''. Stephen was Edward William Knox's son-in-law and his daughter, Helen Rutlege, wrote the story of Rona and the Knox family in a book entitled ''My Grandfather's House''. ''Llanillo'' has since been demolished and the land sub-divided but ''Leura'' still stands with a Victoria Road address. ''Rona'' is still set in expansive, though greatly reduced, gardens that have now been redeveloped by Myles Baldwin.

The house

''Rona'' was designed by G. A. Morell and built in 1883 for Edward William Knox. The design was based on ''

Greycliffe House ''Greycliffe House'' is an historic, two-storey residential dwelling situated in the Sydney suburb of Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia. Completed in in the Victorian Rustic Gothic style, ''Greycliffe'' is listed on the (now defunct) Austral ...

'', another heritage-listed home in

Nielsen Park Nielsen Park is a Heritage register, heritage-listed historic site, park and nature reserve located at Greycliffe Avenue, Vaucluse, New South Wales, Vaucluse in the Municipality of Woollahra local government area of New South Wales, Australia. T ...

Vaucluse, New South Wales Vaucluse is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government areas of Waverley ...

, that had been the childhood home of Mrs Knox. Like ''Greycliffe'', ''Rona'' is a two-storey house in the Victorian Rustic

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style and built in

Sydney sandstone Sydney sandstone, also known as the Hawkesbury sandstone, yellowblock, and yellow gold, is a sedimentary rock named after Sydney, and the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, where this sandstone is particularly common. It forms the bedrock f ...

. The house was severely damaged by fire in 1905 and restored with modifications by the architect William Wardell Jnr. In 1951, the architect John Mansfield removed the large south centre gable. This created an internal courtyard and two apartments for descendants of three generations of the Knox family including Martha Rutledge and her daughter and son-in-law Caroline and David Parker. The Parker children who lived at ''Rona'' as children in the later part of the last century included The Hon. Justice Guy Parker and Jocelyn Parker, the wife of

Philip Lowe Philip Lowe (born 4 October 1961) is an Australian economist and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, from September 2016 to September 2023. He was also deputy governor under Glenn Stevens from February 2012 to September 2016. E ...

, the current

Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. Th ...

, and John Parker. This century, the courtyard has again been roofed, but in glass, and the area is once again enclosed.

The stables

The stables were built at the same time as the house and in similar style. In 1959 they were converted into a residence by the architect John Amory for a Knox family descendant. The building has now been reunited with the house by the creation of a new driveway and gates from Ginaghulla Road.

References

{{reflist Houses completed in 1883 Victorian architecture in Sydney New South Wales places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Houses in Bellevue Hill, New South Wales 1883 establishments in Australia Victorian Rustic Gothic architecture in New South Wales