Beare Park and Kings Cross Rotary Park are at the end of Ithaca Road, bounded by The Esplanade and the foreshore at Elizabeth Bay. All of the land comprising the parks is either part of the original 1831 grant of the Elizabeth Bay Estate to Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay or reclaimed land adjacent to it. These gardens were notable for the integration of the Gardenesque tradition of exotic plantings within native bush in an Australian landscape.
Riviera has private access from the garden of the building to the magnificent Beare park.
The original Elizabeth Bay Reserve, comprising a much smaller area, was named Beare Reserve in 1888 after John Beare, alderman from 1881 to 1899. One of Macleay’s grandsons married a granddaughter of John Macarthur and founded the Macarthur-Onslow dynasty. The park was enlarged in 1901 when James William Macarthur-Onslow formally transferred the land above the high water mark to Council.
More land was added to the south of the park in 1954 with the resumption of parts of the grounds of “Holmesby” (104 Elizabeth Bay Road) and J C Williamson’s “Tudor” (106 Elizabeth Bay Road). In 1980 Council acquired 1-3 Ithaca Road, comprising the former tennis court and part of the gardens of “Boomerang”, built in 1926. In 1991 this land was named Kings Cross Rotary Park to mark the 25th anniversary of the Kings Cross Rotary Club.
Beare Park has a magnificent harbourside setting along with strong associations with two of Sydney’s finest houses, Elizabeth Bay House and “Boomerang”. Apart from its heritage features it contains a group of tall Washington palms, near the intersection of Ithaca Road and The Esplanade, which are a local landmark. The City’s Register of Significant Trees indicates these trees are probably remnants from the grounds of Elizabeth Bay House, and specifically the grounds of William John Macleay’s Linnaean Society Hall built here in 1885.
Source: City Of Sydney
Riviera 