64-68 Grose Street, Leura, NSW 2780 - More Details
Auction
There are beautiful properties. There are significant gardens. And then there are places that have acquired a life and story of their own.
The Braes is one of those places.
Set across more than five acres in the heart of Leura, The Braes is an extraordinary private garden estate shaped by landscape, water, horticulture and history. Its gardens are associated with celebrated Australian landscape designer Paul Sorensen and have been progressively restored and reimagined over decades to create a remarkable cool-climate landscape of scale.
Adjacent to the Blue Mountains World Heritage National Park, and within easy walking distance of Leura Village and the railway station, The Braes occupies a rare position between village life, expansive gardens and the wilderness of the Mountains.
This is not simply a home with a large garden. It is a garden estate with a home - and an opportunity to shape what comes next.
A rare opportunity, with a clear mandate to sell.
Our vendors are ready to move forward and have instructed that this exceptional property be sold at auction. With the intention to sell under the hammer, genuine buyers are encouraged to engage early and put their best position forward on auction day.
A LANDSCAPE OF EXTRAORDINARY SCALE
The gardens unfold across two hillsides, threaded by natural watercourses and framed by distant escarpment views. Creeks, dams, bridges, mature trees, flowering plantings and extensive dry-stone walls create a landscape that reveals itself progressively as you explore it.
More than 200 varieties of cool-climate trees and shrubs contribute to a living collection that changes with the seasons. An orchard, propagation facilities, extensive irrigation infrastructure and a fully equipped machinery and tools shed speak to the practical scale of the estate as much as its beauty.
For the committed gardener, The Braes offers an extraordinary canvas.
For those who simply appreciate beautiful surroundings, it is an exceptional place to live.
And for someone with a larger vision, it presents the rare possibility of building upon an established landscape of genuine character and distinction.
THE RESIDENCE
At the centre of the estate, the main residence has been designed for contemporary family life while maintaining a strong connection with its garden setting.
Light-filled formal and informal living and dining spaces open towards the landscape, while an expansive alfresco balcony provides a natural vantage point across the gardens.
The accommodation includes three bedrooms and a media room, complemented by an exceptional lower-ground level of approximately 300sqm. With direct garden access, two kitchenettes, toilet facilities and extensive flexible space, this level can adapt to family, guest, work, recreation or future requirements.
The generous kitchen incorporates two butler's pantries, gas and induction cooking and both electric and steam ovens.
A double sandstone Jetmaster fireplace, underfloor heating and reverse-cycle air conditioning provide comfort through the changing Blue Mountains seasons.
The defining luxury, however, is the connection to the landscape. The gardens are not simply viewed from the house; they become part of everyday life.
A PROPERTY WITH POSSIBILITIES
The Braes will appeal to different buyers for very different reasons.
For a local family, it is an extraordinary opportunity to establish a private Blue Mountains legacy.
For a serious gardener or horticultural enthusiast, it offers an established cool-climate garden of genuine scale, maturity and provenance.
For those seeking an exceptional lifestyle holding, it combines privacy, space and beauty with remarkable convenience.
And for an entrepreneurial buyer, The Braes invites consideration of what a property of this scale and character might become.
Subject to planning approvals and consents, its scale, infrastructure and distinctive landscape may lend themselves to a range of future possibilities - from private retreats and horticultural pursuits to carefully considered hospitality, events, educational or other commercial uses.
The opportunity is not to impose a concept upon The Braes, but to find the next chapter that respects what is already here.
A PLACE WITH A PAST, PRESENCE AND FUTURE
The Braes has a history stretching back to the nineteenth century, with its association with Paul Sorensen beginning in the 1940s.
After a period of neglect, the gardens underwent an extensive restoration program from the 1990s, including the remediation of watercourses, restoration of dry-stone structures and the re-establishment of an extensive cool-climate landscape.
The result is a garden that is both established and evolving.
A garden is never finished. That is precisely what makes The Braes so compelling.
THE NEXT CUSTODIAN
The Braes is an opportunity to become custodian of something that cannot readily be recreated.
Its scale cannot be replicated in today's Leura.
Its mature landscape cannot be fast-tracked.
Its history cannot be manufactured.
And its position - adjoining the World Heritage Blue Mountains National Park while remaining within walking distance of Leura - is exceptionally difficult to reproduce.
Whether imagined as a private family estate, horticultural sanctuary, multigenerational retreat or the foundation for an appropriately conceived future enterprise, The Braes offers the rarest of propositions:
The opportunity to acquire not simply a property, but a place with a past, a presence and a future.
THE BRAES, Leura, Blue Mountains
A remarkable garden.
An exceptional residence.
A legacy in the making.
The property is available for inspection at the following times by pre arranged appointment only.
Saturdays 2-2.30pm
Thursdays 2-2.30pm
Private appointments available easily on request, by appointment only.
In conjunction with Nic Krasnostein, Ray White Double Bay 0409 938 844
- Type
- House
- Bedrooms
- 5
- Bathrooms
- 3
- Parkings
- 5
- Area
- 2.06 ha
