thick concrete tarmac had to be listed out before replanting began. Ivy and plumbago were set along the fence and near the verandah, and lawn was laid. Two peppercorn trees are now growing well. An oleander at the rear and three yuccas near the gate add the old-time touch. 1983 subdivided and the house used as rental apartments. 1990 RTA environmental impact statement for a road underpass to carry Devlin Street under Victoria Road, adjacent to Willandra. Demolition of some 16 houses and buildings, including one heritage item (Borambil), relocation of another (Westward Cottage) and major earthworks. Devlin Street has moved slightly westward of its 1935 alignment and away from Willandra House. Much of the surviving Ryde village context in the south-western part of Devlin's 1841 subdivision has been destroyed. There is now a permanent and obvious spatial separation of the house from the proposed historical precinct that covers the remnants of the old village. 1996-8 Works associated with the Devlin Street Victoria Road underpass were undertaken 1999: bitumen driveway replaced: new drainage and ground works to the site surrounding the house comprising compacted granite/gravel driveway and pedestrian path to east. Heritage listing As at 14 January 2014, Willandra is of cultural heritage significance to the people of New South Wales and Ryde. It has historical significance for its association with the early settlement of the colony of New South Wales and in particular the Ryde area. It is a fine and intact example of a colonial Georgian two storey residence, now rare in the County of Cumberland, if not New South Wales. It has been preserved for future generation as a result of prolonged lobbying by community groups and funding under newly established Federal and State heritage protection legislation. The area now known as Ryde was the third settlement after Sydney and Parramatta. Willandra is part of a 30-acre grant in the Eastern Farms made to John Small in 1794. It was purchased by James Devlin, stepson to John Small in 1828 and when part of it was subdivided in 1841 as town allotments. It was one of the first two in Kissing Point and formed the core of the emerging Village of Ryde. It was around this time that James Devlin built a mansion house now known as Willandra, a house which has become a landmark in Ryde and representative of a community's endeavour to ensure the preservation