If Maurice Adams were alive today, we can only imagine what his Pinterest account would reveal. One thing is for sure, though - there would be nothing minimalistic about it. The London architect is the visionary behind one of Australia’s most elaborately designed homesteads. As luck would have it, the Queen Anne-style beauty, Knoyle House in New South Wales, is now on the market. The price tag? Upwards of $15 million.
A documented part of Australian history, the 10-bedroom mansion was built in the 1880s as a country escape for Charles Fairfax and his wife Florence May Frazer. Charles was the grandson of the Sydney Morning Herald’s founder, John Fairfax.
With its Queen Anne elements of decorative gables, balconies and bay windows, the property also featured some modern elements in its time. A newspaper advertisement in 1906 saw Fairfax offer it for lease as a five-bedroom main residence and spruiked luxuries such as ‘hot and cold water laid on.’ Of course, the lucky guests would also have access to stabling for six horses and a tennis lawn to enjoy a game on after exploring the four and a half acres of the Knoyle Country Estate.
Knoyle House was renamed Kerever House in 1943 after Mother Alex de Kerever who died in 1942. Credit: Kincoppal-Rose Bay School.
The Fairfax family’s vision of a park-like garden with rolling lawns and many species of rare trees flourishes proudly today. In 1991 the Trust News, published by the National Trust of Australia, revealed the garden was home to one of only two known mature Caucasian Firs in the state. The typewritten article shares stories of Adams as a family friend of the Fairfax family, who heeded his grand plans to include massive chimneys, each with four flues, wide verandahs, bay windows with small window panes and several carved mantelpieces.
English architect Maurice Adams. Credit: bedfordpark.org.uk
Over the years the property has changed hands many times. At one point the Westmacott family called it home, followed by the Finlays from around 1930. During WWII the primary boarding school, Covenant of the Sacred Heart - Rose Bay, evacuated to nearby Bowral. The fresh country air proved too hard to leave and the school began searching for a new site for junior students in the Southern Highlands. They found their rural treasure in 1943.
Knoyle House was purchased by Mother Dorothy McGuiness on behalf of the Society of Sacred Heart for 7600 pounds, or around $14,000 in today’s dollar. This was her first foundation and she wanted it to be a memorial to her predecessor, Mother Alex de Kerever. The much-loved nun had passed away in 1942 but her memory was honoured in the renaming of Knoyle House to Kerever Park.
Kerever Park operated as a primary boarding school until 1965 when it combined with Barat-Burn, the primary day school at Rose Bay. Kerever Park boasted its own small farm, overflowing with milk, eggs and cream. With more than 30 acres of land, animals to care for and ponies to ride, school life for the pupils at Kerever Park looked very different to their city counterparts. From 1969, Kerever Park was used for retreats, live-in seminars, conferences and family holidays.
The Sacred Hearts nuns sold Kerever Park in 2015 for $3.685 million. Today, it returns to the market with a boosted price point, helped by not only the soaring prices in recent times, but by an extensive restoration by antique dealers Gary and Maryanne Nolan. The pair also reinstated the original name of Knoyle House.
Along with the heritage-listed homestead, the future owners will also score a former school house with four bedrooms and bathrooms, a four-bedroom building that was a former mews stable, a gardener's cottage and a section of a former nunnery.
Principal of Dunne Southern Highlands in Bowral Sandie Dunne said while there’s endless possibilities for the future of the grand country estate, there’s one thing all potential purchasers agree on.
“Each buyer has a different vision for Knoyle, however they are all in agreement about retaining the beautiful parkland gardens with rare species of trees,” she says.
Home to a unique seven-level private labyrinth, breathtaking full arch canopies and irreplaceable century-old trees, that comes as a relief to all.
And while much has been documented about the extraordinary homestead, its 16-foot ceilings and a mind-boggling eight reception rooms, there’s one lesser known fact its new owners will discover.
“The master bedroom used to be a chapel and has a secret staircase,” Sandie reveals.