Robin Hill was designed in 1938.
One of Mangerton’s classic grand homes is on the market for the first time in 20 years.
The Georgian revival-style house designed by Gleniffer Brae architect Geoffrey Loveridge and known as ‘‘Robin Hill’’ will be auctioned next month.
Loveridge designed the Norman St house in 1938 for his sister, a year after designing Gleniffer Brae for another sister, Madge who married Illawarra steel giant Arthur Hoskins.
Hoskins, with brother Cecil, helped established the Port Kembla Steelworks in 1931.
Robert Irving in his book Twentieth Century Architecture in Wollongong described Loveridge’s Robin Hill as ‘‘very individual’’.
‘‘A comparison of this house with the thorough-going Tudor treatment of Gleniffer Brae indicates that eclecticism was alive and well in architectural design,’’ Irving wrote.
The brick-and-weatherboard white house is set on 1532 square metres over two blocks. It has five bedrooms, an outdoor entertainment area with a pool and an English country-style garden.
Owner Paul Matts, an Illawarra builder, said it was its individuality that clinched the deal for him and his wife Robyn 20 years ago.
‘‘We’d always loved the house and when it came on the market we bought it after one inspection,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s a beautiful and interesting design with quirky touches like two-level bedrooms and a toilet under the stairwell.’’
Previous owner Rob Claussen from Bowral, whose father, Fred, established the menswear retail chain Claussens in 1938, agreed.
‘‘When I first saw it as a 19-year-old driving up the ‘S’ bends at Mangerton, I said I would own it one day,’’ he recalled. ‘‘It took me 21 years but I eventually got there and I still rate it as one of the best homes in the Illawarra, unencumbered by wartime restrictions on room size.’’
Mr Matts has added a family room to the house and rebuilt the kitchen but he believes it still retains its original character.
Agent Darren Kay from Belle Property Wollongong preferred not to give a price guide for the November 4 auction.
However, a house on a similar-sized block at 1-3 Norman St, Mangerton, sold in 2010 for $1.2million as a knockdown.