Challis Avenue is at the cross roads of the Potts Point Village. It forms a t-intersection with Macleay Street at its northern And is part of a cluster of cafes, restaurants, delicatessens, home up-market boutique hotels, home wear and interior design shops, bookshops, banks, dry cleaners, antique shops, a French shoe shop, a performing space and a florist shop.

Challis Avenue is named after Henry Challis, a wealthy 19th century entrepreneur who bought a large slice of the area when it was almost all vacant land. After he died it was subdivided in 1889 and allotments created in McDonald Street and Challis Avenue but not before A lengthy legal battle with the University of Sydney, the principal benefactor of Mr Challis’s will.

Challis Avenue is heritage-listed by the National Trust of Australia (NSW) as an important heritage streetscape with its central grove of flowering White Magnolias bursting into bloom every December. It southern side is lined with grand terraces and part of St. Vincent’s Girls’ Catholic College, including number 29, Australia’s most expensive terrace, sold recently by Jason Boon of Richardson and Wrench, Elizabeth Bay, for $13 million.

At the western tip of Challis Avenue is Embarkation Park, a series of terraced lawns, established in 1985 as a large community park above the Royal Australian Navy’s car park. It overlooks Woolloomooloo Bay, the famous Finger Wharf, the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the city skyline; the perfect place to enjoy Sydney’s lavish New Year’s Eve fireworks.

Challis Avenue is an integral part of Potts Point, Australia’s first suburb, established circa 1834. Potts Point itself is named after Joseph Hyde Potts, the first teller of the Bank of New South Wales (now Westpac), established 200 years ago this year. Mr. Potts purchased land at the northern tip and built four houses as an investment circa 1840.
Today’s Potts Point continues this heritage.

By Andrew Woodhouse, Director, Heritage Solutions

Image: Grand terraces in Challis Avenue recently sold for $13 million.