Mahratta is a heritage-listed former residence and bank executive training facility and now childcare centre, primary school and community group headquarters at 1526 Pacific Highway, Wahroonga, Ku-ring-gai Council, New South Wales, Australia.

It passed through several hands until a Mr Gerald Allen became owner (in 1912: Garden Clubs of Australia, 2016, 18) and renamed it from Heverlee to Mahratta after a Bombala sheep station where his grandfather was overseer.

[3][4] The name Mahratta comes from the powerful Hindu warriors Marathas from the region of Mahā Rāṣṭra meaning "The Great Kingdom or Nation" in Sanskrit.

[4][1] Allen sold in 1930 to Sir James Joynton Smith who was a member of the NSW Legislative Council, Lord Mayor of Sydney and owner of the Carrington Hotel in Katoomba.

[5][1][6] In 1939 Sir James sold Mahratta to Caragabal Pastoral Co. Pty Limited, a company associated with the family of Thomas Alfred (T.A.)

The wide garden (bed)s facing the house are filled with colourful shrubs set against a backdrop of trees, lily pillies (Syzygium spp.)

To the right (east) is the tennis court with luxuriant plantings of Rhapis palms and rhododendrons between it and the house and a long garden bed of azaleas and camellias on the eastern (Pacific Highway) boundary.

The major landscaping feature included in the design of the new mansion was the continuous brick fence with its magnificent gateways, matching that of the main house.

Though the bricks are closely matched (the original quarries were re-opened for their manufacture), there was no attempt to replicate the Art Deco forms of the rest of the building.

[8][5][1] In 1991 Ku-Ring-Gai Municipal Council received 1,915 square metres (20,610 sq ft) of land as a section 94 contribution from development to the west of Mahratta, which formed part of Gerald Allen's 1912 purchases.

To the south-west is a lower terrace (formerly a croquet green) with a pergola to its north (sited mid-way along the house's western wing's facade) with two flights of steps above and below it.

His usual range of exotic plants is very evident: Himalayan cedars (Cedrus deodara), maples, English oak (Quercus robur), tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua).

To these, he added other conifers such as dawn redwoods (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) and Araucaria species as well as exotic broadleaf trees common in Sydney: Jacaranda mimosifolia and Cape chestnut (Cupania capensis).

Two other rare trees in the garden are the rose apple (Syzygium jambos) and a karaka or New Zealand laurel (Corynocarpus laevigatus), both along the eastern Pacific Highway frontage.

A diverse range of shrubs also adorn the southern and eastern borders of the property, including tree gardenia (G.thunbergii), Camellia japonica cv.s, Gordonia axillaris and others.

The sinuous red gravel drive with its carefully detailed brick edging, annual beds and standard roses divides the lawn as it sweeps towards the house where each side of the porte-cochere is marked by a dawn redwood tree (Metasequoia glyptostroboides).

These two elements are separated by a tall hedge, mostly made up of native vegetation, whilst the stair linking them is canopied over by a remarkable weeping Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara Pendula).

Extensive shots of the formal interior areas, including a motorcycle being ridden down the main hall, and golf balls being hit from the grand staircase (improbably landing in the music room) give an idea of the internal architecture and fittings.

Rewire complete 2019 [1] As at 7 November 2013, Mahratta is a large, intact, 2 storey mansion erected in 1941 in an unusual style which combines Art Deco and Classical Georgian Revival elements.

The house replaced a substantial Federation period residence situated on a 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) site in Warrawee but retained and incorporated the majority of the earlier landscape elements including a sunken rose garden and outbuildings.

[1] The house is substantially intact exhibiting a high degree of face brick, bronze and wrought iron detailing externally and is characterised by a dramatic porte-cochere on the south and an enclosed Pompeian Court on the north.

The oval staircase executed in marble and scagliola, the well-proportioned ballroom and elliptical dining room, finely detailed joinery and original fittings all combine to achieve a very rare and dramatic domestic interior from the period.

[1] The property has historic associations and aesthetic values due to the involvement and advice of landscape designer Paul Sorensen in its garden.

[1] Separate statements of significance exist for the garage and chauffeur's quarters, gardener's cottage, tennis pavilion, laundry, sheds and greenhouses.

To the west, the Croquet Lawn and Rose Garden with their backdrop of dense mature trees and shrubs are a key component of the cultural and historic setting having survived almost intact from the original (Federation era) house.

[15][1] Reasons for listing; cultural, architectural, landmark value, state significance Note: grounds, fence, outbuilding to Fox Valley Road & garage building.