Hi, it’s Adrian Bo here and this week I’m on Astolat Street in Randwick to talk about the fascinating evolution of this general locale and its immediate vicinity, including Frenchmans Road. Now this story starts at the heart of the instigation of Randwick as a township because in 1841, 2 brothers arrived from England: Simeon and James Pearce. Simeon initially got a job working for a butcher in Sydney then he worked for an innkeeper. He saved his earnings and in 1848 invested in four acres of land to be used for market gardening, which was to the east of Botany Street. He and his brother continued to buy up blocks of land and establish the name Randwick as Simeon had been born in Randwick, Gloucestershire in England. He built a grand home for himself called Blenheim House on Blenheim Street now overlooking the Racecourse. In 1859, Pearce managed to persuade the government to incorporate the municipality of Randwick despite a very small population of just over a thousand people at that particular time. He became the first mayor of Randwick and in 1862, 116 allotments were offered for sale on the proviso that only one dwelling per lot was built. However, at that stage Randwick was considered a backwater location too far from the CBD. The area’s watercourse had also been polluted by tanneries and wool washing at that particular time.

One of the allotments was taken by Lawrence Bergin, who was a grocery merchant in Brickfield Hill, now known as Surry Hills. And in 1880, he sold six acres of his land to Thomas Moore who gave it to his daughter as her inheritance. Her name was Amy Whiting. Now Amy Whiting and her husband William had a young family and chose to build a mansion on the parcel of land, which they called Astolat. And they lived there for the next 31 years. The mansion had six bedrooms, three servants bedrooms, a large dining room, library, ballroom and a vast kitchen as well as multiple outhouses. The parcel of land was bounded by Frenchmans Road and Avoca Street, which you can see behind me. And Astolat would have been built on what we now know as Astolat Street, which I’m located on now. Though, at that time, it was considered one of only two houses on Frenchmans Road. The Astolat house estate ensuingly went through a series of attempted subdivisions. In 1902 Hardy Gorman offered what they described as 8 choice Villa sites, fronting Frenchmans Road and Chapel Street. In 1911, 16 lots were offered along with what was known as Clarence Street, eventually renamed to Market Street as it was the site of Hooper’s Market Gardens. These lots included some fronting on Ethne Avenue butting up to the end of Fraser Street. In 1912, 12 lots were offered for sale in circling the as yet unnamed Astolat street and including the land that the mansion Astolat occupied as well as its adjoining farmland where the Whiting family had developed an orchard, grazed cows, raised poultry, kept horses and established a large flower garden as well. In 1920 Richardson & Wrench offered another seven blocks of land marketing them as Randwick’s highest point, facing three of the best streets in Randwick. Being Frenchman’s Road, Avoca Street and Astolat Street. Richardson & Wrench is a terrific long established, Australian real estate brand. And it’s where I started my career back in 1989 in the Maroubra office at the time as the leasing clerk.

It’s fascinating how areas that are now fully developed have evolved through subdivisions. And according to the records, Frenchmans Road now has 57 houses, 179 units and 14 townhouses. 36% of residents have lived on Frenchmans Road for over 10 years. I’m currently selling 5 at 99 Frenchmans Road, Randwick with my client being nationally renowned sports presenter, Erin Molan. The auction is scheduled for this Saturday and has a price guide of $1.4 million. Offering 147 square metres on title, including two bedrooms, two bathrooms, security parking, a large entertaining terrace and stunning north facing views with fully renovated kitchen and bathroom facilities. Here on Astolat Street the only registered sale in the last 11 years took place in February when number 8, a four-bedroom house sold for $3.605 million. You’d have to go back to 2010 for the previous sales when numbers 4 and 6 sold for $1.39 and $1.6 million respectively. Now in the 32 years I’ve been selling real estate in the Randwick, Coogee, Clovelly and Maroubra areas, I’ve handled the sale of many properties, including most recently, apartment 1 at 171 Carrington Road, Coogee for a pre auction record price of $1.3 million. 5 at 55 Bream Street, Coogee well above the reserve price at $987,500 and 10 at 74 Bream Street, Coogee also smashing the reserve price and selling for $1.1 million. We also had apartment 2 at 47, Coogee Bay Road in Randwick selling for a record price of $1,510,000. And also 20 Pine Street in Randwick North also exceeding the reserve price selling at auction for $3,561,000. Now I love sharing local stories of the area that I’ve lived and worked in my entire life. So please stay tuned as I’m committed to delivering them to you on a weekly basis to share my passion for local history. Keep smiling as the end of the lockdowns are imminent and always remember your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.