Elaine – 550 New South Head Road – Double Bay / Point Piper edge – NSW
1863 marine villa · Long Fairfax ownership (1891–2017) · Standing — private; locally listed; redevelopment pressure · Not SHR
Between Redleaf’s civic terraces and Fairwater’s Hunt/Manson brick, Elaine held the Fairfax publishing dynasty’s other Seven Shillings Beach seat for more than a century. Geoffrey Fairfax bought it in 1891; Vincent and Nancy made it a family compound; John B. Fairfax sold in 2017. It is locally heritage-listed, failed a State Heritage push in 2014, and by 2025 was again in the papers as a possible seniors-living precinct — report the pressure, invent nothing about the outcome.
At a glance
- Address: 550 New South Head Road Woollahra fast facts / LEP schedule: Double Bay; popular media: Point Piper (same shore as Fairwater)
- Built: 1863 for W.F. (William Francis) Norie (Woollahra Local history fast facts – E)
- Fairfax: Geoffrey Evan Fairfax purchase 1891 (£2,100 — Domain); internal transfer to Sir Vincent & Lady Nancy Fairfax 1936 (£19,000); John Brehmer Fairfax bulk of estate 1989 ($3m — Domain)
- Site: c.6,9007,000 m² sloping to Seven Shillings Beach; significant trees (Cook pine, Norfolk Island pine, Bunya, camphor laurel, Port Jackson fig — LEP 1995 schedule wording)
- Heritage: Woollahra local listing (house, gateposts/gate, gardens to foreshore, stoneworks, named trees, Seven Shillings Beach). Not on NSW SHR — Council resolved Jun 2014 to take no further state-listing action after Paul Davies assessment
- Neighbours: Fairwater (560 NSHR; SHR; Cannon-Brookes from 2018); Redleaf / Blackburn Gardens (Council)
- Fate / current use: Standing as of research date — private; sold 2017 to Scott Farquhar (~$71m reported); resold Oct 2024 (~$130m reported); 2025 preliminary SSD scoping for seniors living / healthcare — demolition undecided in public reporting (SMH/AFR/Domain). Verify status at publish
Site & setting
Cadigal harbour Country; Seven Shillings Beach foreshore between civic Redleaf and Fairfax/Hunt Fairwater. The estate still reads as one of the larger private holdings on this shore despite twentieth-century subdivision attempts (1990s six-lot subdivision; 2015 DA for four new mansions under Fairfax ownership — Domain). Mature araucarias and figs frame harbour views and the axis toward Redleaf’s eastern trees noted in Redleaf CMP photography (inventory cross-views).
Timeline
- 1863 – House built for W.F. Norie (Woollahra fast facts).
- 1891 – Geoffrey Evan Fairfax purchases (£2,100) — start of century-plus Fairfax tenure (Domain).
- 1936 – Title path to Sir Vincent Fairfax & Lady Nancy Fairfax (£19,000) (Domain).
- c.1950 – Remodelling under Vincent/Nancy after a Leslie Wilkinson garden-house scheme was judged too extravagant (Domain / Howard Tanner reporting) — soft.
- 1989 – John B. Fairfax acquires bulk of estate ($3m) (Domain).
- 1990s–2015 – Subdivision into multiple titles; developer-oriented DA history while Fairfax sought a sale (Domain).
- Jun 2014 – Woollahra Council receives Paul Davies heritage assessment; resolves no State Heritage listing action (Council minutes).
- 2017 – Sold to Scott Farquhar / Kim Jackson (~$71m then-record reporting) (Domain/SMH).
- 2018 – Neighbour Fairwater sold to Mike Cannon-Brookes (~$100m) — Atlassian-neighbour chapter already on Fairwater SHR history.
- Oct 2024 – Resold to investor consortium (~$130m reported record) (SMH/AFR).
- Sep 2025 – Preliminary scoping for state-significant seniors living / healthcare precinct lodged; owners representatives state no final decision on demolition vs adaptation (SMH/AFR/Weekly Source).
- Today – Locally listed marine villa under active planning pressure — check DA/SSD status before publishing “still intact” claims.
Architecture & interiors
Nineteenth-century marine villa core with substantial twentieth-century Fairfax-era alterations — precisely why the 2014 state assessment found the house below SHR threshold while still supporting local listing of house, gates, gardens and trees (Council / Domain). Published Domain walk-throughs note a double sitting room with leadlight, twin arches, bay window, plaster ceilings and Delft-tiled fireplace commanding garden views to the beach — cite as secondary description, not measured drawing. Do not invent a room-by-room 1863 schedule.
People & anecdotes
Geoffrey Fairfax planted the SMH dynasty on this beach; Vincent and Nancy raised the mid-century Fairfax household here; John B. Fairfax’s 2017 sale ended family occupancy after almost no Fairfax had lived in the house for nearly twenty years (Domain). The Atlassian chapter — Farquhar at Elaine, Cannon-Brookes at Fairwater — is already public record on Fairwater’s SHR history field. Whatever 2025–26 planning delivers, the scrapbook value is the Fairfax century and the Seven Shillings Beach villa cluster.
Image gallery guidance
1. Harbour elevation / Seven Shillings Beach clear “Elaine, not Fairwater” captions. 2. Gates and gateposts to New South Head Road. 3. Significant trees (Bunya / Cook pine / figs) — LEP list. 4. Historic Fairfax social photography — social history, not sales porn. 5. Neighbour context plate — Redleaf / Elaine / Fairwater along the shore. 6. Avoid unverified “before demolition” speculative montages.
What stands today
Elaine stood as a private, locally listed harbour estate at research date (Sep 2026 draft). No public access. Fate under SSD/seniors-living proposals was not settled in public sources — re-check planning status and fabric before publish. Pair with Fairwater draft and Redleaf Double Bay.
Sources & further reading
- Woollahra Municipal Council — Local history fast facts – E (Elaine): https://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/Library/Local-history/Local-history-fast-facts/Local-history-fast-facts-E
- Woollahra LEP heritage schedule wording (house, gates, gardens, trees, Seven Shillings Beach) — LEP 1995 Sch. 3 / successor LEP listings
- Woollahra Council minutes 23 Jun 2014 — Elaine state heritage assessment (Paul Davies); no further SHR action
Related on this blog
- Fairwater Double Bay / Point Piper draft
- Redleaf Double Bay (Council) — this batch
- Ginahgulla / other Fairfax Bellevue Hill posts
- Point Piper estates overview on the blog
Keep existing photos; add SLNSW/Trove images with captions and credits from Image gallery guidance.
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