An Art Deco Estate in Australia's Blue Mountains

Everglades House & Gardens is Australia’s most spectacular inter-war period garden. Located on Dharug and Gundungurra Country in the Blue Mountains village of Leura, New South Wales, this unique estate is a spectacular combination of European Romanticism, 1930s Modernism and the wild magic of the native Australian bushland. 

In the 1930s, Leura was establishing itself a Blue Mountains hill station. Like Mount Wilson 40-odd miles away, it offered the wealthy the opportunity to develop large-scale weekend estates with elaborate cold climate gardens designed on European lines. One of those wealthy developers was textile entrepreneur, Henri Van de Velde. Having bought 13 acres of steely sloping land ground on the edge of a ridge with views across the Jamison Valley to Mount Cloudmaker, the Kanangra Walls and Mount Solitary, he commissioned the renowned Danish landscape designer Paul Sorenson to design a garden, tasking him to do something every bit as modern and magnificent as the Art Deco house he had built.  

Everglades Exterior prior to renovation. Image by Sardaka

Over the course of four years, Sorensen did exactly that, creating expansive formal garden terraces bordered by dry-stone walls and planted with seasonal displays - cherry blossoms and tulips in spring, explosions of red and orange foliage in autumn. He also made winding paths that slowly reveal the many different moods of the Everglades, from the tranquil Reflection Pool set amidst towering trees from all over the world, to the contemplative Grotto Pool that awaits at the end of a line of weeping cherry trees.

Image JohnsonL623

The house was fully restored by the Australian National Trust in 2023 and, with its extravagant bathrooms, modernist bedrooms and sweeping Art Deco staircase, is an atmospheric example of the decadence and grandeur of Art Deco. 

A visit to this inspiring house and garden is just one of the treats that await on our holiday to the Australasian Quilt Convention 2027.