Grand old Leura mansion, Leuralla, gives up its history

Built in 1912 by renowned yachtsman and game fisherman Harry Andreas, Leuralla was home to his family for many decades.

It was an idyllic existence, where days were spent bushwalking or cycling, the women doing needlework or reading, the men playing billiards. The children ran around in the extensive gardens.

In the 1920s, the eldest Andreas child, Marjorie, married Sydney barrister, Clive Raleigh Evatt, forming a link between two families prominent in legal, political, cultural and sporting history in Australia.

But Leuralla's glory days are past. For nearly 40 years it housed the Toy and Railway Museum, run by Clive Evatt junior and his wife, Elizabeth.

But that closed last year and many of the toys were sold at an auction last October.

Now the domestic contents of the grand old house are for sale.

It's a treasure trove of everything imaginable, from an antique French brass bed to a harmonica that plays music rolls like a pianola, clunky ancient carpet sweepers to a taxidermied crocodile (one metre long) to a Meccano model of the hammerhead crane that used to stand at Garden Island in Sydney.

Mrs Evatt said it was a place where "nothing was thrown out" so the pantry, for example, produced unopened packs of waxed lunch wrap, patent medicines and early Vegemite jars.

"It was a history of domestic life in Australian in the early part of the 20^th century to the 1950s," she said.

There is extensive Blue Mountains-related material, including panoramic picture books, postcards and early Gregory's maps.

READ MORE:

For the auction there will be a room dedicated to books, one for records and another for furniture. There are also still many toys left over from last year's auction, including Lenci dolls from Italy which are made of compressed felt with painted faces, and an enormous range of Barbie dolls.

Then outside there is railway memorabilia such as antique platform seats from Sydney and Mountains railway stations and old railway signals.

In fact, there is so much to catalogue that the first auction company couldn't cope, Mrs Evatt said. She had to search for an alternative auctioneer.

Keith Mentiplay and David Shepherd from Trains, Planes & Automobiles in Katoomba stepped in and are running the auction on site on July 15 and 16 from 9am. Viewing on Friday, July 14 from 10am-4pm. Leuralla is at 36 Olympian Parade, Leura.

It is with a heavy heart that Mrs Evatt looks around her at all the treasures of Leuralla. She had hoped that it could be preserved as a part of 20^th century history.

"I have been very surprised at the lack of interest from people who could have been in a position to preserve it," she said. "So many people have been amazed that it's just being disbanded."

But she invited people to come to the auction: "It's your last chance to see the original grand house of Leura and to own a bit of it."

Further details see www.antiquetoys.com.au or email office@antiquetoys.com.au.