Hi. It’s Adrian Bo and today I’m at Bunya Parade in South Coogee. Just a few blocks further north from where I talked about the amazing Percy Bates of Lurline Bay. Now Bunya Parade is a very small residential street, but has two particularly significant historical features. It was originally part of an estate called the Colonna Point estate, which has been subdivided back in 1910. Now, the Colonna Point subdivision had been a large property extending back from the cliffs owned by Robert Colonna-Close, who had lived a rather varied life. This included a year in jail back in England followed by migration to Brisbane where he joined the Toowong clergy but was soon considered on the nose after a range of local rumours of misdemeanours. He then moved to Melbourne in Victoria where he studied law and was described as “quite a flowery orator” with an eccentric taste in clothes. And finally, back here to Coogee to pursue a career as a barrister and then as a poli.

Several failed attempts at becoming a member and FS followed, including an attempt to become the member for Randwick back in 1894, which resulted in only 71 votes out of the 2,033 turnout. After his passing in 1905, the subdivision of his estate eventually followed in 1910 as interest in living in the area increased. At the time Bunya Parade was named Bunya Square,
Bunya being an aboriginal word for shade, and the subdivision of the estate covered blocks that were typically 120 to 150 feet deep by 40 to 50 feet wide. Or in today’s accuracy would be the average block size was around 600 square metres. Close street was named after Robert Colonna-Close in the subdivision itself. Now, the other historical significance on Bunya parade is the Ivo Rowe pool, which is a long way below me on the rocks here. There is very little official history published about this beautiful little pool, but by digging around, you can piece together some interesting snippets.

It would seem the pool was built by a few people including father and son, Giles and Sydney Drake sometime in the 1920s by excavating through solid rocks using picks and shovels. It was originally known by locals as the honeycomb pool and was a popular spot for local fishermen to catch Blackfish. Eventually, it was named the Ivo Rowe pool, not Ivor Rowe, who was heavily involved in the local community. He lived in Evelyn Street in South Coogee, and started the Progress Association
as well as being instrumental in the establishment of the very popular South Coogee public school. Another interesting anecdote came from digging around regarding the history of Bunya Parade itself, which was the reference to a lady who lived in a cottage with a white picket fence at what I believe now is number 14. Apparently a freak wave entered the kitchen window one day in 1952, and it upset her so much, sadly she had to move on. Now that must have been one hell of a wave.
Now in 1965, the pool was enlarged by the Randwick Apex club but to say property here is tightly held would be an understatement. The sale of number 14 by advertising legend John Singleton, and his then wife solicitor Julie Martin in 2005
for $7.5 million was the official street record.

The property, by the way, was used by the legendary photographer Herb Ritts to photograph Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman for the promotion of the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece “Eyes Wide Shut” in 1999. I’ve been selling real estate in Coogee, South Coogee and Maroubra for thirty two years, and love being able to tell stories about this wonderful part of our fantastic city. I’ve sold quite a few houses on Bunya Parade during my 32 year career in real estate, mainly during the late 90s and the early 2000s. It did include number 10 Bunya Parade in 2001, which I sold back then for $2,340,000. Now, I can still remember the auction like it was yesterday. As always, I acted as the agent and the auctioneer and represented the seller, Mrs Cowden, who was downsizing after owning the home for overseven years. The auction was extremely competitive with over six registered bidders, and it was the very first home to sell for over $2 million in Maroubra, South Coogee, and Lurline Bay. And that was something that I recall distinctly, and it was very well publicised at the time that a post $2 million sale did occur just after that Sydney Olympic period. It made huge headlines at the time, and the buyer ended up being an old Waverley College alumni of mine, graduating a few years ahead of me at school. He bought the home sight unseen as he was working as a finance expert in Europe due to return home a few years later so he could make it his family home. His immediate family acted as his proxies in searching and bidding on his behalf on the day. Now if you’re thinking of having a dip in the Ivo Rowe pool, then be careful as the rocks can be quite slippery. So I hope you can keep nice and dry during this rainy week and always remember your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.