Mosman heritage building the Whitehouse set for hotel makeover

Emerald City Hotels, which bought the property for $4.82 million in 2016, will transform the building into a 26-room boutique luxury hotel in a project estimated to cost more than $3.2 million.

The Whitehouse has 10 commercial tenancies. Photo: Supplied

What the finished restoration and extension would look like. Picture: Supplied

The old building, formerly known as Telopea, will be restored and a new wing will be added to contain more rooms.

Jean-Claude Branch, the group’ chief executive officer, called the building’s history “fascinating” and was glad it would finally get the makeover it deserved, after its original gardens were sold off and used as a petrol station and now a car wash.

“The whole front of the building now faces the back of a car wash, so it then sort of became a bit of an eyesore,” Mr Branch told Commercial Real Estate.

The former Telopea, a Victorian Filigree mansion, has had its character stripped away in the past few decades. Photo: Mosman Library Local Studies

His view aligns with notes in the building’s heritage record, which called the additions and alterations “grossly unsympathetic”.

“The unforgivable insertion of a petrol station in front of this grand Victorian house has destroyed an important part of the curtilage, the address on Military Road and views to the front of the building,” the record wrote.

The former Telopea was built together with the adjacent Boronia by carriage builder brothers James and John Kearey, who paid £7000 for the land in 1885. Boronia has been largely preserved and is now owned by Mosman Council.

The original gardens of Telopea were sold off and used as a petrol station and subsequently a car wash. Photo: Mosman Library Local Studies

Mr Branch said he would be reusing the stained glass windows and keeping all the fireplaces in the redevelopment, which is to be named The Albert after his grandfather, who was a Mosman resident.

Mosman’s first boutique hotel

The fact that the group’s nearest competitor is their own Cremorne Point Manor indicates the critical shortage of hotel stock on the lower north shore.

“Between Cremorne and Manly, there are currently no hotels,” Mr Branch said.

“There’s nothing there and we really think there should be something there, because I want to bring tourists out of the CBD as well, there’s a lot to show in Sydney that’s beyond just the CBD.”

Mr Branch, a former analyst at Merrill Lynch in San Francisco, plans to charge more than $300 a night for the rooms, which are expected to be up to 65 square metres in size.

It represents “a new direction for the brand”, as the company has traditionally focused on converting heritage properties into budget accommodation.

“We are likely, subject to council approval, to improve the current budget hotels as they are in premium locations and more suited to upper-scale hotels,” he said, admitting that some of the current buildings did not even have ensuite rooms.

“(While) the budget hotels work well, the future of the market, the future of the brand is the boutique luxury brand.”