Westholme (c.1894)

1 Water Street

Westholme was designed by Howard Joseland for John Arthur Bennett, one of the pioneer land developers of Wahroonga and an artist trained at the School of Art in Manchester. His first exhibition was at the Royal Academy when he was twenty-nine years old.

In 1886 Bennett married Jessie Edwards of Birmingham and a few months later sailed for Australia. Bennett built his first home, Westholme, now at 1 Water Street, in 1894 having purchased the land in the prior year.

About 1908 the Bennetts built their second house, Wairoa, on the eastern side of the block. When Bennett died in 1929 the land was subdivided. Westholme remained in the family until 1984 when the grandson, Charles Louis Bartholomew, sold the property to Roderick John Maclure.

The other parcel, 3 Water Street, containing Wairoa passed through a number of owners before being sold to the Trustees of the Sisters of Saint Dominic in 1956. They later transferred ownership to the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Broken Bay. Wairoa was demolished in 1991 despite attempts to put a conservation order on the property.

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