Hillview is a rare, substantially intact example of a grand private boarding house/guesthouse complex from the Federation era. The significance specifically protects:

• The primary 1890 Federation cottage facing Pacific Highway.
• The grand 1913 two-storey rear estate extension used commercially as a guesthouse.
• The rare 1915 six-car garage block with an upper residential dwelling, representing some of the earliest purpose-built domestic automotive infrastructure in Sydney’s upper North Shore.

LOCAL CENTRE HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREAS

From Ku-ring-gai Council Heritage Conservation Areas 19G, pages 19-20, HERE

Key Historical Periods:

Late nineteenth century, pre-war Federation, 1920s-1930s Art Deco.

Boundaries:

Pacific Highway (north), Kissing Point Road (west), Boyd Street (south) and the North Shore rail corridor (east).

Description:

The Hillview Conservation Area includes the Hillview group, two Federation shops and a 1930s Art Deco bank building on the Pacific Highway and 1890s-1900 houses and duplex on Kissing Point Road and Boyd Street. The Hillview Group includes the original cottage, the c1913 guesthouse, garages, stone wall and gates to the Pacific
Highway, carriage loop, croquet lawn, terracing and mature landscape setting.

Built Character:

Hillview group comprises several buildings and a landscaped setting developed in several stages. The c1913 two-storey guesthouse is of particular note for its size, design and quality detailing. The boundary fence to the Pacific Highway is sandstone with metal chains. The original wrought iron entrance gates are installed on the site.
The commercial buildings on the Pacific Highway comprise a pair of face brick pre-WWI two-storey shop buildings. One retains its bronze and leadlight shopfront windows. The Art Deco bank building is rendered brick with decorative grillework.


The buildings along Kissing Point Road and Boyd Street were built in the late 1890s to 1900 following partial subdivision of Hillview.

Materials:

Original face brick, quality timber joinery, terracotta roof tiles and ridge cappings, timber bargeboards, brick chimneys, exposed eaves, timber double-hung sash windows, gable and hipped roofs. The Art Deco bank building features rendered and painted brick façade with decorative metal grillework.

Historical significance:

The Hillview Conservation Area is historically significant as a substantially intact group of buildings constructed within a short period of time demonstrating the history of Turramurra. The Hillview Group is a rare example of a grand private boarding house complex built following the opening of the railway. The bank and shop buildings on the Pacific Highway reflect the growth of Turramurra shopping centre and the houses on Kissing Point Road and Boyd Street demonstrate the laterdevelopment of Turramurra following the partial subdivision of Hillview.

Aesthetic significance:

The Hillview Group of buildings displays high-quality construction and decorative detailing throughout. They are prominently located adjacent to the railway line with spectacular views. The pre-WII shop buildings are the only early shop buildings on the south side of the Pacific Highway. The bronze and leadlight shopfront is rare on the Upper North Shore. The bank building is a good representative example of an Art Deco bank building. The early bungalows on Kissing Point Road and Boyd Street form a group of architecturally similar houses and cohesive streetscape.

Controls

1 All individually listed heritage items to be retained.


2 Additions and alterations must respect the existing character and setting of the buildings and to be sympathetic in terms of form, scale, character, bulk, materials, colours and textures.


3 Significant decorative and architectural details (iron grillework, terracotta roofs and tiles, timberwork, bronze shopfront, glazed tiles, leadlights, timber shingle cladding, bay windows etc) must be retained and reinstated where missing.


4 Original face brickwork and sandstone to be retained and not rendered or painted. Encourage removal of paint from original face brick.


5 Gardens, gardens structures and landscaping which contribute to the significance of individual items and the conservation area as a whole must be retained and conserved.

Obectives

1 To conserve the character of the HCA.


2 To retain significant buildings, landscape and streetscape items and the relationships between them.


3 To ensure that any future development respects and retains the significance of the individual items and the HCA as a whole

October 2026