Historic Vaucluse home, Greenway, offered to the market for the first time in 20 years

A historic Vaucluse home built by acclaimed Sydney architect Leslie Wilkinson in the 1920s, has been placed on the market for the first time in more than 20 years offering buyers a rare opportunity to own a piece of Australia’s rich legacy of design and the arts.

Bill Malouf, Director of Highland Double Bay Malouf has listed the home, known as Greenway, on behalf of the vendor, Australian author and arts philanthropist Ashley Dawson Damer AM.

Greenway, located on a 2,415sqm site at 24 Wentworth Road in Vaucluse, for almost a century has been home to high-profile owners including Academy Award-winning director Jane Campion and has played host to politicians, ambassadors and some of the country’s leading arts identities and corporate leaders.

Designed and built by Wilkinson, the founding dean of the faculty of architecture at University of Sydney, Greenway represents the pinnacle of the England-born architect’s artistic flair that is inspired by Mediterranean designs infused with Georgian elegance.

“It is a privilege to list such a historical residence. ‘Greenway’ is a house that wraps itself around you in pleasure and tranquillity, it is for a buyer who appreciates its originality and uniqueness,” said Bill Malouf, Director Highland Double Bay

Wilkinson named Greenway after convict architect Francis Greenway, who designed Australia’s first lighthouse at Vaucluse. The home is considered a prime example of Wilkinson’s design intent of creating buildings that are in harmony with their setting with rocks and trees of the original site left largely undisturbed. The house and its gardens are heritage listed with Woollahra Council.

“Greenway is a home that wraps itself around you in pleasure and tranquillity,” said Ms Dawson Damer, who has owned the home for the past 21 years. “It was specifically designed that way.”

Ms Dawson Damer, an accomplished author of three books with the most recent being A Particular Woman, is one of Australia’s leading arts philanthropists. She is a National Gallery of Australia Foundation board member, a Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW and has served as director of Opera Australia Capital Fund since 2014

“Everywhere you turn there is a special design conceit created by the great architect, Professor Wilkinson. He referenced the Georgian traditions in his columns and his hallway window and the stark beauty of the sandstone fireplace. He called to the south of France for his house structure where provincial echoes are everywhere, being particularly suited to the sunny climes of that Mediterranean idyll.

“For fun and games, he brings in Spanish adobe architecture, again especially suited to this harbourside house - in the tiles over the archway and the carved dragons on the frame of the garage. In the front garden is the coolness of a thick green lawn and space for an 80-seat clear marquee where the tracery of the Angophora trees lend an architectural component to the setting.”

During Ms Dawson Damer’s ownership over the past two decades, Greenway’s architectural elegance has been the backdrop to some of the Sydney arts community’s most lavish soirees including formal dinners and banquets. The highlight of the year is Ms Dawson Damer’s annual Christmas parties which feature as many as 200 guests served by a platoon of white-coated waiters described by some as a scene from the Titanic.

“On the harbour side I have held cocktail parties, farewelling CEOs of arts organisations such as Opera Australia and the National Gallery, holding summer dinners or lunch parties, watching the New Year roll in,” said Ms Dawson Damer.

“My favourite place is the large drawing room, and it is there I have entertained current and past Prime Ministers, including John Howard, as well as premiers, government ministers, ambassadors, and especially four French ambassadors and some American.”

Opera singers have also performed at Greenway, among them the great baritones Bryn Terfel and Teddy Tahu Rhodes.

The home was originally built by Wilkinson in 1923 and remained part of his family’s estate after his death when it was bought by Jane Campion. Wilkinson extended the home in 1950, adding a three-storey wing and the home’s distinctive tower, bringing total bedrooms in the upper floor area to five with three verandas. Greenway was extensively renovated by new owners again in 2002 with the addition of a subterranean laundry and cellar added, new bathrooms and kitchen, and an extended terrace and landscaping improvements. The home now features seven bedrooms and five bathrooms.

“Greenway represents a rare opportunity to own a piece of Australia’s distinguished architectural history,” said Mr Malouf, who is marketing the home through an expressions of interest campaign.

“The story of the home’s origin, as one of the first to be built in the Vaucluse area, has been enhanced over many years by many owners whose affection for this grand home has left a lasting legacy for generations to come.

“While this positions Greenway one of the most significant homes in the area, it is also a supremely liveable home for buyers looking for an elegant and uniquely private estate in one of Sydney’s most sought-after suburbs.”

For further information, contact Bill Malouf on 0411 428 354.