Bonnie Brae – Wahroonga – NSW
Chas. H. Hayes scrapbook house · Later Sir Sydney Snow · Red Cross convalescent home 1942 · Fabric fate open
First the Beautiful Homes camera found Chas. H. Hayes on a Queen Anne verandah with a conical tower; later Sir Sydney Snow — softgoods emperor, UAP organiser, gardener — lent the same named Wahroonga mansion to the Red Cross as a soldiers’ convalescent home. Diggers’ hats in Lady Snow’s old cupboard. What happened to the walls after the war is still an open research flag.
At a glance
- Name: Bonnie Brae
- Suburb: Wahroonga (live misspells Wahronga)
- Scrapbook resident: Chas. H. Hayes, Esq. (Beautiful Homes plate)
- Later resident / donor: Sir Sydney Snow (1887–1958) & Lady Snow (SMH 11 Aug 1942; ADB for career)
- WWII use: Red Cross convalescent home — opened 10 Aug 1942 (reported 11 Aug); accommodation for 42; 32 soldiers arrived opening day
- Build year / architect / street number: not found this pass
- Fate: Estate subdivided postwar (secondary Domain / family recollection); house fabric standing/demolished unverified
Site & setting
Upper North Shore ridge living — gardens mattered to Snow (ADB: “mad about” his gardens at Kenilworth, Bowral, and his Wahroonga home). Beautiful Homes exterior: single-storey Federation composition with octagonal/conical tower, timbered gables, deep verandah with arched timber brackets. Later subdivision produced neighbouring lots — including land associated with The Briars story — without proving what became of Bonnie Brae’s own footprint. Aboriginal Country: Guringai / Kuringgai country.
Timeline
- c. Beautiful Homes era – Photographed as residence of Chas. H. Hayes, Esq.
- 1912 onward – Sydney Snow builds softgoods empire (Snow’s Emporium, Pitt & Liverpool) (ADB).
- 1936 – K.B.E.; UAP executive career through Depression/war (ADB).
- 11 August 1942 – SMH: “Bonnie Brae,” Wahroonga, given by Sir Sydney and Lady Snow to Red Cross for duration of war; opened previous day as convalescent home; Matron L. Lacey; furnishings largely Red Cross except curtains/carpets already in situ.
- 1942 – Snow resigns UAP chair on medical grounds (November — ADB).
- 1954 – Sells retail business; lives thereafter at Bowral (ADB).
- 24 November 1958 – Dies Paddington (ADB).
- Postwar / later – Bonnie Brae estate land subdivided (Domain family recollection via The Briars); house fate open.
Architecture & interiors
Plate evidence: Federation Queen Anne / Federation picturesque — tower with conical roof, multiple gables, verandah timberwork, garden foreground with bench. SMH wartime note: elegant hat cupboard in former Lady Snow dressing room now holding diggers’ hats — scrapbook gold, not a measured survey. No architect locked this pass.
People & anecdotes
Chas. H. Hayes — named on the Beautiful Homes plate; fuller biography not expanded this pass (needs Trove/Sands before inventing a career). Sir Sydney Snow (ADB) — Ballarat-born retailer; All for Australia League / UAP organiser; company boards; racing (Peshawar, Caulfield Cup 1953); gardens. Wikipedia and SMH attach the Wahroonga gift name Bonnie Brae; ADB confirms Wahroonga home and wartime public service without the house name — cite SMH for the label. Matron L. Lacey and Red Cross Aids — opening-day staff named in SMH; Sealyham “Brodie” as period colour.
Image gallery guidance
1. Keep live Beautiful Homes exterior — Hayes caption; SLM/HHT credit.
2. Keep second live plate.
3. SMH / Trove 11 Aug 1942 page image if cleared for reuse.
4. Snow portrait (ADB family photo / press).
5. Parish map / subdivision showing Bonnie Brae estate vs later lots (Briars land note only after matching).
What stands today
Unconfirmed. Do not send readers to The Briars and call it Bonnie Brae. Confirm whether the Hayes/Snow house was demolished, renamed, or heavily altered after the Red Cross chapter — then publish a clear standing/gone line with sources.
Sources & further reading
- Live scrapbook: https://historicsydneymansionsmanorshouses.blogspot.com/2026/07/bonnie-brae-wahronga-new-south-wales.html
- Beautiful Homes plates — Sydney Living Museums / HHT (Bonnie Brae; Chas. H. Hayes; Wahroonga)
- SMH, 11 Aug 1942 — “Bonnie Brae” Red Cross Home: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17801497
- ADB — Sir Sydney Snow: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/snow-sir-sydney-8570
- Domain — The Briars / Bonnie Brae estate subdivision note (secondary; use carefully)
Related on this blog
Add historic photos with captions and credits from Image gallery guidance.
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