Welcome, It’s Adrian Bo from Ray White Park Coast East in the Eastern Suburbs and today, I’m on one of Coogee’s shorter streets, Glenwood Avenue, just off Dolphin Street to talk about its fascinating past as well as some of the colourful characters that have lived here over the years. So Glenwood Avenue was originally part of the Catley Estate, owned by George Catley, the son of Charles Catley whose story I told in a previous episode. Charles was known as the “Father of Coogee” due to the enormous impact he had here, including being the driving force behind the establishment of the iconic Coogee Bay Road as a commercial centre. He owned an enormous block of land, acquired in two lots between 1849 and 1853, that took in the current Coogee Oval and land bordering Dolphin Street, Mount Street, Brook Street where his home, “Cauliflower Hall” was established and Belmore Road which later became Coogee Bay Road. He farmed the land and the humble cauliflower proved to be his most valuable crop for the growing local population that needed feeding, hence his home was named Cauliflower Hall and the original Sandstone Wall on Brook Street remains intact, being the oldest remaining construction in Coogee.

Glenwood Avenue was established in a further subdivision in 1937 and due to its location close to the beach, became popular amongst sophisticated immigrants of the time. Apartment prices at the time were relatively high here by Coogee standards yet would you believe a block of four flats were sold in 1939 for a total of 1,850 pounds, less than 500 pounds each. Flats had started to become a common dwelling in the late 1930s as demand to live near Coogee Beach grew dramatically. Controversy struck Glenwood Avenue during World War II. Dr. Emery Barcs, Hungarian journalist and author, had escaped the right wing regime in Hungary and migrated to Sydney, settling at number 5 Glenwood Avenue. Word got around amongst other Hungarians who decided to also move into Glenwood Avenue, causing the street to be considered a minor Hungarian enclave. Another former resident of a flat at number 5 Glenwood Avenue was William Stones who established the Stones Milk Bar on Dolphin Street which I also covered in a previous episode, including the tales about Johnny O’Keeffe, an old Waverley College alumni of mine, where his first ever gig was performed and also Prince Philip coming in as a young bachelor naval officer before meeting with Queen Elizabeth. Unit 3 at number 10 Glenwood Avenue functioned for several years as the centre of the Coogee Jewish community due to Olga Hochstadt, a resident there, formally of Czechoslovakia. Mrs. Hochstadt and her family entertained functions from their garage until the synagogue was built on Brook Street in 1961.

Now, according to the records, this tiny street has 54 units, 45% being rented and 55% being owner occupied. The average owner occupier has lived here for eight years and three months. There were four sales in 2021 in Glenwood Avenue, all for two bedroom apartments ranging in price from just under 1.3 to 1.5 million. Now, over the last 34 years I’ve been selling in the Coogee area, I’ve sold many properties in and around Glenwood Avenue, including an apartment at number 5 Glenwood Avenue, a four bedroom house at 56 Bream Street, a two bedroom apartment at 6 at 67a Bream Street, a one bedroom apartment at 2 at 174 Coogee Bay Road and also 5 at 180 Coogee Bay Road, a two bedroom apartment, as well as thousands of others over the years. If you’d like to find out the current value of your property, I’d be delighted to assist you. You can reach me on 0418 278 316 or adrian.bo@raywhite.com. Now, Glenwood Avenue is a lovely cul de-sac with plenty of history. I hope you’ve enjoyed the stories. I’m passionate about keeping our community stories alive. Please enjoy the magnificent autumn weather which seems to be evolving and always remember your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.