You may be surprised to hear that this home has a distant connection to Napoleon Bonaparte! 5 years after the rail line was extended to Hornsby the home in Wahroonga was built for the Balcombe family & was believed to be a replica of the original "Briars" residence on St Helena Island also owned by a Balcombe relation. This is where Napoleon went into exile as a "guest". When Napoleon was suspected of enjoying his "exile" too much, Balcombe was ordered to return to England and soon after came to NSW and was appointed our first colonial treasurer. 
 
Information and photo courtesy of News Local archives.
 
Posted on Friday, 25 September 2015 by Carol Johnson
Category: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow