Out of the mouths of locals - Castle Hill

By Alex May

Castle Hill is the prestigious centre of the bushy Hills District, 31km north-west of Sydney.

The area became a mecca for subdivision from the 1960s, when Sydneysiders realised the semi-rural area about 20-minutes drive from Parramatta offered large land sizes and good quality new homes for a relatively modest price.
By the time the 1990s came around, the Sydney: A Social Atlas found that Castle Hill was Sydney’s fourth wealthiest suburb with many large houses and a high average income.
Since then, the prestige of the area has grown and surrounding suburbs try to muscle in on the kudos of the “hills district” tag.
Nicole Howard says there are really only four true Hills suburbs that make the “snobs grade” of being in the Hills District – Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills, Kellyville and West Pennant Hills.
But Melinda Fletcher, the founder of local website HillsWeb.com.au, includes 20 different Hills suburbs as part of the district, including Winston Hills, Annangrove, Kings Langley and new subdivision areas like Rouse Hill and Glenhaven.
“The truth is that most people want to live in Castle Hill but they can’t afford it so they live in Kellyville or Glenwood,” she says.
According to Australian Property Monitors, the 2004 March quarter median price for Castle Hill houses was $669,000 and was $589,000 in the same period in 2003,.
APM head of research Louis Christopher has said the Hills District has shown some price weakness this year with the softening of the market, but Castle Hill seems to be holding up.
Fletcher says the area is unique in Sydney and has prestige value because it is a garden shire with mountain and bush views.
“A lot of people like The Hills area and grew up here and so are attached to it,” she says.
“It’s not too far from Parramatta or the city but it’s far enough that you don’t have to live in smog.”

Sue Buxton

The Buxton family had its own population explosion in 1977 with the arrival of triplets, forcing them to seek out a spacious new house in the then semi-rural Castle Hill.
“We really loved the rural atmosphere. Back then Castle Hill was on the edge of the city and if you went west of the Hills District it was all farms and cows and horses and was quite lovely,” says Sue Buxton.
“We went from having one child to having four children quite quickly so we had to move somewhere that could accommodate all of us and be a nice place to raise the family.”
Back in 1979, the Buxton’s moved from the Liverpool area to a four-bedroom house with a study on more than 1000 square metres in Castle Hill.
“We were attracted to the houses that were on the ridge and had views of the Blue Mountains,” Sue says.
“We were also attracted to the value you could get here in Castle Hill back then – this was one of the few places in Sydney we could afford to buy a nice big house on a quarter acre block.”
Ron and Sue’s four children have now grown up and left home, but the couple intend to stay in the area where they can enjoy the lifestyle.
“It’s a very artsy crafty area with lots of coffee shops and plenty of things to do,” Sue says.
“There are nice local restaurants, there are plenty of clubs and sporting facilities and the RSL Club does a lot with youth groups so they kids can never sit around and say ‘I’m bored’.”
The biggest drawback of living in Castle Hill is the lack of a train service, which makes it difficult for families with children.
“When my kids were teenagers it was mum’s taxi until they got their own cars – that meant sitting up late waiting to pick them up,” Sue says.
If the Buxtons need to travel to the city, they opt to drive to Beecroft train station and park their car.
“It can take an hour and a half or more to get into the city from here, which is a long time,” she says.

Nicole Howard

Solicitor Nicole Howard is terrified and excited about getting married in April next year – but not for the reasons you may expect.
The 28-year-old’s fiancé has decreed that the married couple will not live in the Hills district “and I can’t stand the thought of leaving”.
Nicole has lived in Castle Hill since 1986, when her parents moved from Kings Langley to build their first “real home” in the Knightsbridge estate near Fred Caterson Reserve.
She still lives in the four-bedroom family home, which is a quick drive away from her job with local legal firm Sheather & Associates.
“My fiancé needs to work in the city and it is just too expensive and inconvenient to live in Castle Hill and travel to the city,” she says.
“If you drive to the city then it’s a $3.80 toll each way and the bus fares are expensive – I was paying $63 a week for the bus when I worked in the city.
“People who live here earn a decent wage but travelling sucks up a lot of their money.”
Ironically, it is probably the isolation of Castle Hill that has created its image as a suburban village – a place with little crime and a friendly atmosphere.
“It’s not like you’ve got people catching trains here to make mischief. I mean, you have to have a fair bit of money and time to bother catching the bus to Castle Hill to make trouble – and the bus fares are so expensive that you probably don’t have a lot left over for spray cans,” she jokes.
Nicole went to Samuel Gilbert Primary School and then William Clarke College in Kellyville and still sees many of her school friends.
“It can be odd having clients that you went to school with, but that’s what this area is like – everyone wants to stay,” she says.
As teenagers, they all hankered after the day when they got their drivers licence and their first car.
“It was a rite of passage to get your licence and we all have this theory that the RTA at Castle Hill is the hardest place in Sydney to get your licence,” she says.
“Everyone failed on their first go and there was a rumour that one of the woman examiners would never pass anyone if they had to sit their test after lunch just because she was grumpy in the afternoons.”

Les, Michelle, Claire and Anika Herbert

The Herbert family bought their brand spanking new house in the Knightsbridge area of Castle Hill from a builder for the princely sum of $144,000 back in 1987.
The 980 square metre block was worth $58,000 at the time, and it has an outlook over Cattai Creek which Les says “gives the place the feeling of acreage without the hassle of acreage”.
The Herberts moved from Winston Hills to the more upmarket Castle Hill because the tranquillity of the bush appealed to them. Since then, they have seen the prestige of their local area rise.
“I don’t quite know why Castle Hill is the shining light of the Hills District, it’s probably because it has the shopping centre and has always been the centre of the area,” Les says.
Nineteen-year-old Claire and 17-year-old Anika both attended Castle Hill High School and cannot praise their schools highly enough.
“A lot of families like the schooling in the area. I mean, I had an excellent education at a public school with fantastic facilities and I wouldn’t have had that if we hadn’t lived in Castle Hill,” Claire says.
“This is one of those family friendly areas where everything is geared towards families and you always see parents playing with their kids in the parks and that kind of thing.”
Les actually gave up working in St Leonards when he bought the Castle Hill house so that he could work from home and avoid the long commute.
“It was the best thing I did because now my office looks directly at the bush,” he says.
Claire now studies at Macquarie University, which is a two-hour trip by public transport to reach a destination that is only a 25-minute drive away.
“Public transport is the biggest problem with this area,” she says. “It can be really hard to co-ordinate all the private bus services to get anywhere.”
Claire has just bought her first car, which means the Herberts own three cars – something that is quite common in the Hills District.
“It’s almost cheaper to drive than it is to use public transport,” Claire says.
“Some houses actually have four or five cars, especially by the time the kids are teenagers,” Les says.
But the transport issue doesn’t stop the Herberts raving about their little patch of suburbia.
“There is the best amateur theatre here, good restaurants and a nice environment for kids to grow up,” says Claire, who is a member of the Castle Hill Players.
“It really is a fantastic place for anyone to raise a family.”