Wahroonga is a suburb in the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire. North Wahroonga is an adjacent separate suburb of the same postcode . History Wahroonga is an Aboriginal word meaning our home, probably from the Kuringgai language group. In the early days of the British colonisation of New South Wales, the main activity was cutting down the tall trees which grew there. Wahroonga was first colonised by the British in 1822 by Thomas Hyndes, a convict who became a wealthy landowner. Hyndes's land was later acquired by John Brown, a merchant and timber-getter. After Brown had cleared the land of timber, he planted orchards. Later, Ada, Lucinda and Roland Avenues were named after three of his children. His name is in Browns Road, Browns Field and Browns Waterhole on the Lane Cove River. The last member of the Brown family was Gertrude Mary Appleton, who died in 2008 at the age of ninety-three. She is buried in the cemetery of St John the Baptist Church, Gordon. After the North Shore railway line was opened in 1890 it became a popular place for wealthy businessmen to build out-of-town residences with large gardens. Wahroonga Post Office opened on 15 October 1896. Much of this development occurred in the 1920s and 1930s. Housing Wahroonga is known for its tree-lined, shady streets and well maintained gardens. Notable streets include Water Street, Burns Road, Iloura Avenue and Billyard Avenue. Heritage listings Wahroonga has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: 9 Highlands Avenue: Highlands 62 Boundary Road: Jack House, Wahroonga 69-71 Clissold Road: Rose Seidler House 61-65 Coonanbarra Road: St John's Uniting Church, Wahroonga 16 Fox Valley Road: Purulia, Wahroonga 69 Junction Road: Evatt House North Shore railway: Wahroonga railway station 1526 Pacific Highway: Mahratta, Wahroonga 1678 Pacific Highway and Woonona Avenue: Wahroonga Reservoir 23 Roland Avenue: Simpson-Lee House I 14 Woonona Avenue: The Briars, Wahroonga Highlands, in Highlands Avenue, is a timber house designed by John Horbury Hunt and built in 1891 for Alfred Hordern. Hunt was a Canadian architect who used the Arts and Crafts style and the Shingle Style popular in North America. Highlands is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register and was listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National