- Warkworth’s historic Italianate villa, Riverina, built in 1901, has been sold.
- The property attracted around 300 people at its only open home and received multiple offers.
- The new owner plans a lifestyle subdivision, preserving 1.2ha with the historic villa.
For years, Warkworth locals have been driving by a boarded-up Italianate villa on the edge of town full of wonder, says Bayleys listing agent Dianna Coman.
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The Category 2 listed building, dubbed Riverina, was built by local cement owner Nathaniel Wilson and his wife, Florence, in 1901, and recently, it found a new owner after just two months on the market.
Coman, who brokered the deal, said the property had been so popular that she held just one open home, attracting around 300 people during the two-hour timeslot.
While she was unable to disclose the sale price, she said she had received multiple offers for the house, which had an RV of $3.6m. “It had been boarded up for a while. It’s one of those prominent houses you can’t help but notice when you drive by it.
The most recent owner, the late Beverley Simmons, purchased the property with her husband, Ron, in 1969, as a holiday home. Photo / Supplied
Built around 1901, the home - known as Riverina - served as accommodation for American troops during World War II and later for road workers. Photo / Supplied
“Everybody looks at it from the street and wonders, ‘what it’s like, who owned it, who lives there?’.”
She reckoned that nearly everyone in the country with the surname Wilson got in touch with her when the homestead went to market.
“I had so many millions of calls from the Wilsons. It was quite funny because everyone would call me and they’d say, ‘Hi, I’m a Diane Wilson’, or ‘I’m Steve Wilson’.”
A lot of the Wilsons who called did turn out to be relatives of the mansion’s original owners, she said.
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“There was something like 13 kids or something. I had people bringing in booklets and family trees and old photos, so I’ve actually got quite a bit of stuff I’ve accumulated from just the process.”
An entry on the Warkworth Museum page outlines the importance of the cement works to the town, and traces the remarkable journey of Wilson and his cement empire.
“Visitors can follow the timeline from Nathaniel’s arrival in New Zealand as a child in 1842, his early years as a shoemaker, to his pivotal role in developing Portland cement.”
The local newspaper, Local Matters, ran a story in 2010 which said it was unlike any home in Warkworth. The property had had such a chequered history as Riverina, and had an “extraordinary” range of occupants since it was built, the paper said.
In the 1940s, it was the HQ for more than 20 US military camps and training sites scattered from Pakiri Beach to Tapora. “Some of the soldiers were here to train for forthcoming battles on Pacific islands, others had returned from the war and were here to recover their health; and there were some whose job was to provide supplies.”
Listing agent Dianna Coman is also selling a large block of land next to Riverina. Photo / Supplied
In the 1950s, the house was used as workers’ accommodation for road construction gangs, and in the 1960s it was briefly a hostel for Post & Telegraph workers.
A OneRoof article from November last year told how its most recent owner, the late Beverly Simmons, bought the house in the 1960s as a holiday home.
“At the time, it had been neglected and was derelict, with a dead sheep in the front room.”
Simmons embarked on restoring the house whilst keeping its Italianate villa spirit intact, and after her husband’s death, she moved into the house permanently, “and became famous locally for her entertaining skills. It is said she was partial to a glass of whiskey and always dressed for the occasion”.
Coman told OneRoof that the new owner was a local with a passion for historic buildings. “He is looking to do a lifestyle subdivision around the balance of the land. There’s a portion that will stay with Riverina because it’s all part of that historic listing, so about 1.2 hectares will stay with Riverina, and the balance of the land will go into large lifestyle sections.”
Coman said she has another 2.9ha block beside the 5.8ha Riverina site for sale. This land could suit a range of options, from lifestyle to land-banking or a “carefully considered” development.
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