Buying in Warrawee

By Alex May

Driving through the leafy upper north shore enclave of Warrawee is like stepping into a world that the rest of Sydney has left behind.

Well-groomed teenagers stroll along the grassy verges (for there are no nasty footpaths), sunlight gently dapples through the leaves of the mature Camellia trees and a black Labrador lies in the middle of the road soaking up the sun and refusing to move for any of the BMWs or Mercedes that drive by.
The only blot on this otherwise idyllic suburban streetscape is the checked Water Restrictions Patrol car which skulks the streets, checking for any sneaky gardener trying to hog more than their fair share of Sydney’s dwindling H2O supplies.
Warrawee has some of Sydney’s most architecturally significant houses dating back to the late 1890s and early 1900s, including houses designed by Professor Leslie Wilkinson and BJ Waterhouse.
Local agent John Luschwitz, director of Luschwitz Real Estate Agents, says Warrawee’s modern appeal is as a safe haven, far from the maddening crowds or city pressures.
“This is your classic private school upper north shore family market – they come here because it’s so nice and it’s a great place to bring up kids,” he says.
“Everyone is after quiet streets and quiet situations that you just can’t get in other places in Sydney.”
The Ku-Ring-Gai Historical Society says the tiny suburb between Wahroonga and Turramurra was populated by people so politically influential that they managed to demand their own railway station.
Apparently Warrawee is the Aboriginal word for “stop here”, and local residents had to fight the railway commissioners for a train station that is only one kilometre from Wahroonga.
Burns & Burns principal Julia Burns says Warrawee was founded by “Pitt Street farmers” who bought property back in the days when the Pacific Highway was just a dirt track and the wealthy wanted to claim tax breaks.
“It’s always been a place that powerful people are attracted to, it has a prestige,” she says.
Warrawee has no commercial development at all – not even a shop near the station.
“There aren’t many places in Sydney that are only quiet streets and nice houses with good proximity to a train line,” Luschwitz says.
The record price for the suburb is $11,980,000 for a large mansion on Chilton Parade.
Burns says the eastern side of the Pacific Highway is the premium area, with houses starting around the mid $1 millions.
Luschwitz says homes on the western side of the highway can start in the $700,000 to $900,000 range.