207 Eastern Road, Wahroonga
Amanda Robertson 24/12/2020 I 3 min read
This rare Modernist home designed by Architect, Sydney Ancher located in the quiet section of one of Wahroonga’s premier streets has SOLD. The new owners will be looking to restore and renovate this beautiful home, keeping an important piece of local history for a new generation to enjoy.
The house (c1952) was designed for the newly married artists Peter & Ursula Laverty, designed with a skillion roof, large north facing floor to ceiling windows and a separate studio for the artist. As the family grew, so did the house with two additions added over the coming years. Sydney Ancher was known for his simplistic designs that allowed for additions to be created without comprising the original design, flow or functionality of a home.
When the family approached me about selling their family home of almost 70 years, it came with a commitment to understand and appreciate the history and the uniqueness of the home. As a lover of modernist architecture and living locally in a mid-century home myself it was easy to fall instantly in love with the property.
The house in its original condition, with chocolate square terracotta tiles in the entrance flowing through to tallowwood timber floors, large timber windows and beautifully simple light fittings immediately remind you of the era you have stepped into. The home, full of colourful artworks by both Peter and Ursula Laverty plus furniture designed by Peter Laverty provided a delightful surprise to every visitor to the property during the sales campaign.
Word spread quickly, other Sydney Ancher home owners, Architects, Artists, families specifically looking for a mid-century home, plus local community whom had admired the home for many years all came through and marvelled at the beauty of this quintessentially uncomplicated and unique property positioned on it’s 2255 m2 of gently sloping land. Even those buyers with a different agenda, developers and knock downers still admired the home with some starting to think how they could incorporate it into their development proposal.
The family were intent on finding a buyer who would retain the home, the hardest thing to advise the family was “once you sell you don’t have any control over what the new owner does to the property”. So while we had early offers from developers and knock down rebuild buyers, the family kept shaking their heads.
So when an Interim Heritage Order was unexpectedly placed on the property it almost provided a relief to the family that the developers would quickly lose interest. However it inevitably stalled the sale process too, so working with the Laverty family in support of their dealings with the council was important in helping move things in a positive direction and keep the sales campaign alive.
With clarity around the Heritage Order, buyers started to show interest again, so after many private viewings, talks with Architects and questions fielded about the heritage requirements, an out of area buyer fell in love. The rest is now history, SOLD (sale price confidential).
Locals have been calling me, saying thank you for saving this iconic home. While it won’t be the Laverty’s home any longer it will probably always be known as the Laverty House and we welcome a new family to our community. The Laverty family have kindly gifted a piece of Peter’s and Ursula’s artwork to the new owners, a lovely way to retain the links to the history of the home.
