Berrilee, NSW 2159

Tiny semi-rural riverside suburb about 38 km north-west of the Sydney CBD in Hornsby Shire, sitting on the western shore of Berowra Creek where the creek winds down toward the Hawkesbury River. It is one of the quietest, most remote-feeling corners of metropolitan Sydney: at the 2021 census just 212 people lived there, and Wikiaustralia describes it as a rural locality with a median income around $35,700 a year, spread across a 12 km² area of bush and acreage. The name is believed to derive from an Aboriginal word 'Buraillee' possibly relating to 'mouth' or 'food', and the area was originally Darug country. Berrilee is a water-and-bush lifestyle suburb — deep-water Berowra Creek frontages, private jetties and boats, acreage holdings and a 'pleasant country drive to the tranquil setting of Berowra Waters'.

At a Glance

Transport

Berrilee has no railway station and is effectively off the regular bus network: no full-time bus route runs through the suburb, whose road spine — Berrilee Road off the Galston Road corridor — ends at the creek. Access is by car and boat: properties line the west bank of Berowra Creek with water frontage, and the nearest railhead is Berowra station on the Main Northern line, reached by driving north along Berowra Waters Road and crossing Berowra Creek on the toll-free, 24/7 Berowra Waters punt ferry into the adjacent suburb of Berowra Waters. Limited transport options recorded by journey planners include school-bus special route 3531 serving the Berrilee area and route 638 connections on the Galston Road corridor toward Hornsby.

Schools

No school remains in Berrilee: the former Berrilee Public School closed in 1957 after enrolment fell below seven students, briefly reopened, then closed permanently and its property was sold in 2005. Families are served by schools in immediately adjacent suburbs: Arcadia Public School (K–6 government, opened 1895) in Arcadia to the west, Galston Public School and Galston High School (Years 7–12) in Galston to the south-west, and Wideview Public School and St Bernard's Catholic Primary School in Berowra Heights to the east.

Shopping & Amenities

Berrilee has no shops at all — Wikipedia describes it as a small town 'without any stores', with the nearest small general store near Berowra Waters (in the adjacent suburb of the same name, home to the Berowra Waters Inn, Waterview restaurant and a marina) and another store in Arcadia. Everyday shopping and services sit in the adjacent Galston village centre on Galston Road, including the Galston Shopping Village and a Bendigo Bank branch.

Parks & Outdoors

Berowra Creek is the suburb's defining feature: Berrilee occupies the creek's western shore in a tidal reach that empties into the Hawkesbury River, and the acreage lifestyle is built around deep-water frontages, private jetties, moorings and boat access, with bushland surrounds rising from the water. The 24/7 toll-free Berowra Waters punt ferry crosses the creek at the adjacent suburb of Berowra Waters to the north, linking the west-bank roads to Berowra, and Wikiaustralia promotes the drive from Berrilee to 'the tranquil setting of Berowra Waters'. Berowra Creek and its valley are popular for kayaking, fishing and boating, with national-park bushland on the opposite shore.

Property Market

The median house price in Berrilee was around $1,600,000 (median house sale price based on just 3 sales in the 12 months to late 2026, property.com.au/PropTrack; 4-bedroom ~$1.45m, 5+ bedroom ~$4.73m) (mid-2026). See our full Sydney property price map for how the suburb compares across the city. Berrilee is an extremely thin market — the $1.6m median rests on only 3 house sales in 12 months, and the recorded -31.9% 'growth' simply reflects that tiny sample swinging between sales of modest homes and multi-million-dollar waterfront/rural estates. Sold examples include 1-15 McCallums Road (11-bed, 13.76 ha) and 21 Charltons Creek Road (2.23 ha), while current listings run from about $4m for a waterfront 8.09 ha holding (4 Jack Russell Road, $4.0–4.4m guide) to agent-price 6.88 ha properties on Bay Road. Lot sizes of 2–14 ha with Berowra Creek frontage dominate; there is no unit market. Buyers are lifestyle purchasers from the Hornsby/North Shore corridor seeking water access, privacy and bush surrounds — the hint range of ~$1.8–2.6m captures mid-market holdings but misses both the sub-$1.5m smaller blocks and the $4m+ trophy riverfront estates.

New Developments

Minimal — Berrilee is a long-established rural/riverside locality with no significant development pipeline: Wikipedia notes the town has no stores and lost its last school in 2005, and property turnover runs to only a handful of house sales a year. There are no growth-area or rezoning plans for the suburb; the nearest development activity is in the surrounding Hornsby Shire suburbs (Berowra Heights, Hornsby Heights) and the broader Galston corridor, which remain low-key.

Jobs & Local Economy

Local employment in Berrilee is negligible — with no shops and no school, the suburb's small population (212 at the 2021 census) works remotely, runs rural lifestyle/hobby properties, or commutes out by car via the Galston Road corridor to Hornsby, the Upper North Shore and the Sydney CBD. Wikiaustralia records a low median income (about $35,700) consistent with a retiree-and-lifestyle demographic typical of bush acreage suburbs.

Nearby Suburbs

Arcadia, Berowra Waters, Berowra Heights, Galston, Hornsby Heights, Mount Ku-ring-gai

Sources & method

Researched 5 September 2026 from named public sources — census and government records, transport authorities, council and planning documents — plus published sales data. Where sources disagree on a figure, the guide says so rather than picking one.

Sources cited in this guide:

• Wikipedia — Berrilee
• Wikipedia — Berowra Waters
• Wikipedia — Arcadia

Corrections are welcome — if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.

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