| Glimpses of History
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Walker and Miller still side by side
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Today the two major streets in North Sydney are Walker and Miller streets. They sit side by side, just as did the houses of the two men that they were named after. In 1832 Thomas Walker bought 39 acres of land at North Sydney from the Crown. Shortly thereafter he sold 13 acres to William Miller and in the mid-1830s they built their houses side by side on the very top of the ridge leading up from McMahon's Point. They were the first substantial houses built in North Sydney away from the harbour front and had commanding views over the whole of Sydney. Walker called his house Euroka and part of it still stands in what we today know as Graythwaite.
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| Holterman's Mansion was built on Miller's land next to Graythwaite. Only small parts of it survive, buried in red brick, in Shore School. |
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Chateau Euroka vineyard a failure, orchard not far behind.
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In the early days of Sydney no one was quite sure what would grow where and on what soils. Was the north of the harbour different to the south? The only way to find out was to try. Nevertheless, Thomas Walker's decision to terrace the steep slope below the main house for the purpose of a vineyard was a brave move. Maybe it was hoped that the southerly aspect would prove a bit colder than the north facing slopes on the other shore. Whatever the case, the vineyard appears to have had a short and unsuccessful life.
Similarly, while Walker planted an extensive orchard on the flatter land adjacent to Union St, by the 1870s only a few straggling trees were left. Again the climate was too warm and humid for the apples and stone fruit to thrive.
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Property speculator scores 150% return in ten months
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Real estate speculators have always had an eye for a bargain and George Tuting was one of the best. When the first owner of Euroka, Thomas Walker, died in 1850, the property was placed in the hands of his executors. They put it up for sale in 1852. The timing was as bad as it could be. With gold having been discovered in Victoria, the New South Wales economy had been plunged into chaos. Men were simply leaving their jobs to head south and make their fortunes on the gold fields. Sydney real estate was not the place to be.
In stepped Tuting with an offer for Euroka of just 1500 pounds. One can only imagine his glee when it was accepted because, just ten months later, he sold the same property to Edwin Sayers, a Victorian shipowner who had made a fortune out of the gold rush, for 3800 pounds. A return of over 150% in ten months!
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Bushfire threatens mansion on urban fringe
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It was a typical November hot and windy day when a tendril of smoke appeared near the water's edge. Within minutes the blaze was heading up the hill, the strong westerly behind it. Through the bush and across the grassy paddocks it roared, much to the alarm of the occupants of the great stately house on the ridge top. Edwin Sayers had only recently completed extensive extensions to the house, Euroka, and was very proud of the result.
The buckets were filled and all hands were literally called to the pumps. As the flames arrived cinders set fire to the verandah and some of the exposed timber work. It was a close run thing, but the bucket brigade won out and Euroka was saved. The date was November 1855 and, but for the efforts on that day, we would not have Graythwaite today.
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Family homes with piped spring water in North Sydney!
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Around 1860 the then owner of Euroka, Edwin Sayers, decided to build some houses on part of the estate, apparently to bring in some extra income. This saw the construction out of local stone of four semi-detached family homes on Union St. They were called Sayers Terrace and were the first significant homes built on Union St. Today they can be found at numbers 34 to 40 Union St.
When they were offered for sale in 1868, a major enticement was the inexhaustible supply of piped spring water. Remarkably there is a fresh water spring not too far below the top of the hill on which Graythwaite stands. Water from the spring was gravity fed through pipes from the spring to the houses on Union St.
Today the spring can be found towards the end of the grassy terrace below the main house, near a large stand of bamboo. There are at least two significant brick structures near the spring. One of these appears to have been a holding tank for the water, while the other may have been an ornamental pond.
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