Whit-Hame, the 1939 Warrawee architectural gem, listed
Whit-Hame, the six bedroom 1939 F. Glyn Gilling-designed Warrawee residence on 2,300 square metres, has been listed for September 27 auction.
It last sold in 1999 when bought for $2,275,000 by the Malouf family. More than $3 million is being tipped for its LJ Hooker auction.
Its previous owners include one-time retailer John Sainty, the Indonesian businessman Ricardo Gelael, Gresham director James Graham and the cosmetic surgeon Eng Peng Tan.
Much of its garden can possibly be credited to Charles Harold Smith, who was born in Ballarat in 1880, one of 10 children born to Henry Smith and Lucy Hull.
In 1906 he married Ethel Burston inVictoria, and they came to Sydney in 1909, where he established Charles H Smith & Co, a stock and share broking firm that operated for many years on Hunter Street, Sydney.
Charles and Ethel lived in various places in Gordon and elsewhere in Ku-ring-gai before building Pittmedden in Warrawee. After Ethel died in 1936, Charles sold Pittmedden, built Whit-Hame and married Ethel’s sister.
"They remain shadowy figures in the story of Kuring-gai despite their long-term residency, their creation of a wonderful garden and their willingness to display its charms for the benefit of charity," wrote the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society Inc in 2010.
It's been listed through Robert Ward at LJ Hooker Wahroonga.
