Blaxland's well-weathered Hermitage still gets Blue Mountain views
The Hermitage, the 1840s Denistone colonial homestead built for merchant John Blaxland, the eldest son of the explorer Gregory Blaxland, has been listed for auction.
The seven-bedroom, five-bathroom house has all the classic hallmarks of Georgian colonial architecture, including high ceilings, ornate cornices and marble fireplaces.
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The John Bibb-designed house, conserved with input over the years by Clive Lucas and Partners and Perumal Murphy Wu, is a rare survivor from the early settlement period of Ryde, being one of about five pre-1850 buildings surviving in the municipality, which ranks as the second oldest farming settlement area near Sydney, after Parramatta.
"The Hermitage has weathered well," says the NSW Heritage website.
The hilltop house, with views to the Blue Mountains, sits on a 7,096-square-metre holding that's been subdivided off its larger holding by developers Maksim Holdings and Denistone Corp.
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It was in 1813 when Gregory Blaxland led the first known European expedition across the area of the Great Dividing Range, now known as the Blue Mountains along with William Lawson, and William Charles Wenwtorth, on a journey that opened up the inland of the continent.
The property developers, who have restored the homestead over the past three years, expect more than $3.5 million through McGrath agent Wayne Vaughan at its September 29 auction.
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The development site was initially sold by the CSIRO in 2000 for $3.1 million. It had previously been the home of the Scobie family for a long time.
The colonial homestead was built between 1838-42 and sits on a high point in the Denistone/Ryde area.
It has its own Wikipedia page outlining that John Blaxland was born in 1799 in Kent, England.
The family immigrated to Australia in 1805 and John's father, Gregory, bought land in Ryde and built Brush Farm, which also still stands.
Shortly after The Hermitage was built on its 48-hectare holding John Blaxland married in 1845.
John and Ellen Blaxland had six sons and three daughters, all of whom were born at The Hermitage.
The Hermitage was the residence of the Blaxland family until the death of John Blaxland in 1884, as his widow, Ellen, took up residence with her daughter Lucy at Minimbah in Longueville.
The Hermitage lay virtually unoccupied until 1905 – two years after Ellen's death.
Professor James Pollock, who held the chair of physics at the University of Sydney, bought The Hermitage in 1910 and lived there until his death in 1922.
The Nicholson family bought it in 1923 and sold it on two acres in 1952 to the CSIRO, and the house became its wool textile research laboratory unit.
