Rona – 51 Fairfax Road (Ginahgulla Road gate) – Bellevue Hill – NSW
Victorian Rustic Gothic Revival sandstone mansion · Built 1883 · Standing — private · RNE Place ID 2579 · Woollahra local heritage
Edward William Knox of Colonial Sugar Refining raised a gabled sandstone house on the Bellevue Hill crest and named it Rona. Gustavus Alphonse Morell gave it Victorian Rustic Gothic form — terracotta shingles, attic upper floor, harbour prospect — a cousin in spirit to Greycliffe at Vaucluse. Fire, flat conversion, and later private restorations changed the plan; the silhouette still reads as one of the ridge’s great Knox-era piles. This is a new scrapbook entry: no prior dedicated Rona post on the blog.
At a glance
- Address: 51 Fairfax Road, Bellevue Hill NSW 2023; also 6 Ginahgulla Road (gatehouse / Ginahgulla entry — Australian Heritage Database). Domain 2016 marketing used “2 Ginahgulla” (flag)
- Traditional Custodians: Gadigal / Cadigal Country (Bellevue Hill ridge)
- Built: 1883 for Edward William Knox (ADB; Dictionary of Sydney; AHD)
- Architect: Gustavus Alphonse Morell (G. A. Morell); Dictionary of Sydney also credits Morell and Kemp (flag partnership timing)
- Style: Victorian Rustic Gothic Revival / Neo-Gothic — Sydney sandstone, terracotta shingle roof; upper floor reads as attic storey (AHD)
- Model note: design tradition links to Greycliffe House, Vaucluse — childhood home of Mrs Knox (Edith, ne Willis) per Wikipedia (flag / cross-link Greycliffe)
- Fire & works: severely damaged 1905; restored with modifications by William Wardell Jnr (Wikipedia) / William Waddell jnr (Domain) — flag spelling
- 1951: John Mansfield removed large south centre gable → central courtyard and two apartments for Knox descendants (AHD; Wikipedia)
- Heritage: Register of the National Estate Place ID 2579 (21 Oct 1980); Woollahra LEP (Heritage NSW DB 2711104; LEP 1995 / LEP 2014 item)
- Estate: originally c.6 ha / 16 acres (Wikipedia); later reduced — Domain 2016 cited c.5,700 m²
- Fate: Standing — private residence; Knox family until late 20th century; reported sales 1989 $9.6m (John Schaeffer), 2005 (Terry & Kyril Agnew), Wikipedia asserts 2018 c.$58m (secondary — flag)
Site & setting
Bellevue Hill crest — panoramic harbour prospect cited on AHD as central to significance. Dual entries historically: Fairfax Road and Ginahgulla Road wrought-iron gates / gatehouse (Domain; AHD location line). Mature garden and state-significant trees noted in sale reporting; private — admire from public streets only.
Nearby Bellevue Hill scrapbook neighbours: Caerleon (Ginahgulla / Fairfax newspaper gentry), Ginahgulla / Fairfax House (Scots College — Victoria Road), Girrahween, Venetia / Bellevue. Do not confuse Rona’s Ginahgulla gate with Ginahgulla the Fairfax mansion.
Timeline
- 1 Apr 1847 – Edward William Knox born Sydney; CSR dynasty (ADB).
- 30 Jan 1878 – Marries Edith Willis at St Matthews, Manly (ADB).
- 1880 – Knox general manager of C.S.R. (ADB).
- 1883 – Rona completed; Knox commodore Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron 1883–84 (ADB).
- 1887–1902 – Knox Woollahra alderman (ADB).
- 1905 – House severely damaged by fire; Wardell/Waddell Jnr restoration (flag spelling).
- 26 Jun 1933 – E. W. Knox dies at Rona; buried Waverley after All Saints Woollahra service (ADB).
- 1951 – John Mansfield conversion: south centre gable removed; two flats around courtyard (AHD).
- Later 20th c. – Three generations of Knox descendants including Martha Rutledge line (Wikipedia — treat as secondary family note).
- 1989 – Reported sale $9.6m to art collector John Schaeffer (Domain).
- 2005 – Sold to Terry & Kyril Agnew (Domain).
- 2016 – Domain “Rona renaissance” marketing / renovation coverage.
- 2018 – Wikipedia asserts major sale c.$58m (flag / secondary).
- Today – Private heritage house; Woollahra local list + RNE archive record.
Architecture & interiors
AHD: substantial Victorian Neo-Gothic stone house with terracotta shingle roof; upper floor as attic storey; original joinery and several panelled ceilings retained at time of RNE description. 1951 Mansfield work removed original stair hall to form central courtyard and two large flats — later owners have re-roofed / re-enclosed the courtyard in glass (Wikipedia / Domain — flag adaptive phases rather than claiming untouched 1883 plan).
Prefer AHD / Heritage NSW / historic photographs over inventing plaster schedules or lost room names. Compare publicly to Greycliffe (Rustic Gothic sandstone marine villa) and Morell’s other eastern work (e.g. Swifts tradition on this blog).
People & anecdotes
Edward William Knox (18471933) CSR industrialist; shy, telephone-averse; yachtsman (Sirocco); Union Club; University Senate; gallery trustee; died at Rona (ADB — Martha Rutledge). Edith Knox (née Willis) — childhood Greycliffe link in secondary sources. Gustavus Alphonse Morell — civil engineer–architect; Swifts / theatre work in DoS architect cards. John Mansfield — 1951 flat conversion. Later private custodians (Schaeffer, Agnew, post-2018 owners) — restoration chapters; do not invent interiors from agent copy.
Image gallery guidance
1. Historic sandstone / terracotta-shingle elevation (SLNSW / Woollahra local history search). 2. Ginahgulla Road gatehouse & wrought-iron gates (public realm). 3. Fairfax Road entry / harbour prospect from street (no trespass). 4. Compare Greycliffe Rustic Gothic sandstone. 5. AHD / RNE era photos if distinct from modern marketing. 6. Trove / SMH — Knox obituary context; yacht Sirocco if illustrated.
What stands today
Rona stands as a private Woollahra heritage house. No routine public access. View façades, gates and garden edge from Fairfax Road / Ginahgulla Road footpaths without trespassing. Cross-link Bellevue Hill Fairfax–Knox ridge posts and Greycliffe.
Sources & further reading
- Heritage NSW — Rona - house (DB 2711104): https://apps.environment.nsw.gov.au/dpcheritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=2711104
- Australian Heritage Database — Rona, Place ID 2579: https://environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=2579
- ADB — Knox, Edward William (1847–1933): https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/knox-edward-william-6990
- Dictionary of Sydney — Rona (building): https://dictionaryofsydney.org/building/rona
- Domain — “Rona renaissance…,” 18 Oct 2016 (sale/ownership chronology — secondary)
- Wikipedia — Rona, Bellevue Hill (portal; verify against AHD / ADB / Heritage NSW)
- Trove — search: Rona Bellevue Hill; Edward William Knox Rona; “Rona” Fairfax Road fire 1905
Related on this blog
- Greycliffe, Vaucluse — Rustic Gothic model / Willis childhood tradition
- Caerleon, Bellevue Hill — Ginahgulla ridge neighbour
- Hordern / Ginahgulla–Fairfax House (Scots) — Victoria Road Fairfax pile
- Girrahween / Venetia–Bellevue — Bellevue Hill cluster
- Swifts, Darling Point — Morell circle
Keep existing photos; add SLNSW/Trove images with captions and credits from Image gallery guidance.
