Beatrice Park & Yarrabin Open Garden

BEATRICE PARK & YARRABIN, located on the corner of Bendooley & Kangaloon Road, are significant heritage gardens and houses in the Moderne style, occupying approximately 3 acres. Since 1959, both have been multiple Bowral town garden winners. It has been at least a decade since both were opened together. Both are now threatened with Seniors Villa development.

These two very different gardens share a common architectural and gardening history. Beatrice Park (1949), one of Aaron BOLOT's few houses in the Moderne P & O style, is the more formal garden with connections to landscaper Claude CROWE. BEATRICE PARK demonstrates aesthetic and creative achievement and accomplished design. Its beautiful garden and largely intact interiors showcase a class of local heritage rarely found.

Cross to the Tea House on the Eastern Boundary, welcomed by an uninterrupted line of Bhutan Cypress cascading down to Kangaloon Road, forming a visual backdrop to both gardens. Walk through the gates into YARRABIN, and a magical Woodlands Garden awaits, more reminiscent of Edna WALLING's style.

Both gardens have a strong association with the Southern Highlands garden community and have been featured over the years in many magazines, publications, and books. YARRABIN, apart from its intrinsic value as a heritage site, was the home of Tim and Keva NORTH in the '80s and '90s, and the birthplace of several groundbreaking publications including Australian House and Garden, Your Garden, and the Australian Garden Journal.