Point Piper

Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 6 kilometres (4 mi) east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra.

Point Piperis a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 6 kilometres (4 mi) east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra.

Point Piper has been historically regarded as Australia's most expensive suburb. In 2011, Wolseley Road was ranked as the ninth-most expensive street in the world, at $38,900 per square metre.

Point Piper was named after Captain John Piper (1773–1851). Piper was a Scottish-born military officer of Cornish parentage, who arrived in the colony in 1792 and built a neo-Palladian mansion on the point, on 190 acres (0.77 km2) of land granted by the governor in 1816. After a review of Piper's performance as head of the Customs Department showed that he had mismanaged funds (although he was not actually accused of being corrupt), Piper attempted to drown himself in Sydney Harbour. He subsequently sold his holdings at Point Piper, Rose Bay, Neutral Bay, and Petersham for £5,000 and moved to the country.

In 1834, Piper's former residence was leased by Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes (1787-1873), the newly arrived Collector of Customs for New South Wales and a Crown appointee to the colony's Legislative Council. Colonel Gibbes and his family resided at Point Piper House (also known as "Henrietta Villa" or "Naval Villa") until 1844, when they moved to Wotonga, on Kirribilli Point. Wotonga now forms part of Admiralty House. Point Piper House was eventually torn down in the 1850s and the site was redeveloped.