Born in Albury, New South Wales,[1] Crowle worked as an electrician in Tasmania and a bicycle mechanic in Adelaide before becoming a car importer in Sydney.

[8][9] During the Christmas season, Crowle would have children from Surry Hills (then a slum in the midst of the razor gang era) brought to Wyldefel by the Salvation Army to be fed, entertained and given presents by "Santa Claus.

The property also featured a gas-driven clothes heating system[17] and a shared lawn with gazing ball, tennis court and a swimming pool.

[18][19] In 1940, the Royal Australian Navy announced their intention to reclaim land along Wylde Street in order to facilitate access to their new base at Garden Island.

[20] The front of the property featured a quote from Goethe: "Live peaceably with all so shalt thou lead a happy life thyself."

Residents were allowed to attend a cinema unescorted one night a week, to spend Sunday afternoons freely, to receive mail without censorship, to have free access to their parents and also visits from girlfriends.

Boys were also placed on controlled diets with white tablecloths and English cutlery for all meals, and given employment in the home's vegetable and poultry farms for which they were obliged to put savings aside.

Other quotes featured throughout the property included "Experience is the name men give to their mistakes", attributed to Oscar Wilde, and "Success is always a lonely job.

The unusual occasion was documented in The Sun, who quoted an anonymous 17-year-old resident: If anyone had tried to tell me 12 months ago that I'd be standing here making a presentation to a magistrate, I'd have told them they were plain nuts.

He offered to distribute them to universities, war memorials and the Australian Parliament in Canberra "to enable young people to gaze upon them and absorb some of the history attached to them.

Thirty young male residents of "Once Upon a Time" Ryde formed a guard of honour, each wearing white carnations with black ribbons.

[39][40] Amongst the auctioned works was John Finnemore's The signing of the treaty of peace at Versailles, 28 June 1919, which is now on display at the Australian War Memorial.

For many years Crowle's original "If short my span" plaque was hung next to the stairs leading up from the Kurraba Point ferry wharf, but as of 2024 it seems to have been removed and may or may not return.

Still visible to ferry commuters is the Goethe quote plaque that Crowle unveiled to dedicate the building, serving as a permanent reminder of his contributions to Australian society.