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Rangeview Gardens

Ted Woolrich, the son of the original settlers of the ten acre allotment of Rangeview and what is presently Cloudehill, was amongst the first nurserymen in the hills and established his Range View nursery in 1917. His mother arrived in Olinda in 1862. Ted Woolrich also helped establish the National Rhododendron Garden and entered a display into the Garden Show in St Kilda Road every year. He was so well-known in gardening circles that his catalogues were bequeathed to the Royal Botanic Garden Herbarium. Iris Woolrich, Ted’s wife, was the first proprietor of the Cuckoo, then called Quambie. Their original cottage built in 1920 is now Woolrich Retreat, the accommodation on the site.

The wood of Rangeview is a ‘secret garden’. A small dell is overhung by a huge weeping beech. A giant American tulip tree rears up from the end of a narrow path. There is an azalea maze of Kurume azaleas, the first to be planted in Australia. In the gazebo area there is a mass of camellias, and on the bottom path a forest of rhododendrons, their blossoms only visible from above, Keith Purves, the previous owner of Range View cleared the site of blackberries and established the paths. We have used our energies building rock walls from stone gathered on the site to combat the lyrebirds constant erosion of the banks; tree works to improve the health of existing trees which when we bought the property needed great care; and the clearing of weeds and replacement of the ground layer of plantings – a process which continues. We have been helped in this by our gardener, Matt Nadji and the gardeners of Cloudehill.

We suggest those exploring Rangeview look for lyrebirds. Most guests catch glimpses of them. A colony of them live in the gully below the property and they wander into the garden constantly. We also have wombats although no one ever seems to glimpse them. The occasional wallaby visits.

Next door we have Cloudehill www.cloudehill.com.au to which our guests have free entry. It is one of the most beautiful gardens in Australia and has an international reputation. Developed by Jeremy Francis in the early nineties, it is constantly being transformed. It is divided into some twenty rooms in the style of properties such as Hidcote in England. It includes herbaceous and shrub borders, a tree peony collection, spring bulb meadow, and a green theatre. It also now has a restaurant, Seasons; open for breakfast, lunch, and morning and afternoon teas 9751 0168.

Woolrich – “a magical paradise” – “so hard to leave behind”

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