Berith Park, Wahroonga

An undated photo of the house

Berith Park is an historic house in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga. It is listed as a Heritage item on the Ku-Ring-Gai Heritage register and is in a heritage conservation area I

History and description

Berith Park was designed by F.Ernest Stowe for Alfred Smith, who came from Queensland. Smith acquired the land in 1897 and the house was finished around 1909. By 1914 the house was in the hands of Sir Arthur Rickard, the founder of the Dr Barnardos charity for children. Rickard made substantial changes to the house, putting in tennis courts, a swimming pool, a ballroom, an ornamental lake, cricket oval and gardens. The house was later bought by Alderman Crick, the Lord Mayor of Sydney and a founder of Fox Studios. Berith Park was used extensively as a location in a number of films. Crick later started selling off parts of the property. The Catholic Church bought the house in 1955 for use as a home for the Dominican Fathers and then Dominican Sisters. It was sold again in 1979 and extensive changes were made. In 2004 more subdivisions were made and an acre of the land was sold off.