Not elegant enough was the verdict for the name Little Dural, a town just north of Sydney. Thus residents lobbied for a new name for their village in 1886 and finally agreed on Kenthurst: ‘Kent’ derived from the English county, due to a number of residents originating from there, and ‘hurst’ for woody hillock, as the land was mainly used for timber getting.
It is not known whether tennis player Lleyton Hewitt and his wife Bec were attracted to Kenthurst because of its now more elegant name – and as a result bought a $3 million property in 2006 – or whether it was the convenient semi-rural location attracting them to the area.
Fact is, being able to own large blocks of land and maybe even farm some animals, yet at the same time live in close proximity to larger suburbs such as Castle Hill and a reasonable distance from Sydney central business district, is what many Kenthurst residents appreciate.
The close proximity of suburbs such as Rouse Hill and Castle Hill also means that it’s a piece of cake for residents to satisfy all their demands without the strenuous drive to the Sydney CBD.
The Castle Towers shopping centre, for example, can be found about 10km south of Kenthurst. Apart from major department stores such as David Jones and Myer, which after an extensive refurbishment re-opened this July, around 120 fashion and accessory boutiques including Lisa Ho, Country Road, Cue, Oxford and David Lawrence cater for all imaginable fashion needs.
As a result, the retail scene in Kent-hurst itself only aims to satisfy the very basic daily demand of locals, but even this includes fashion.
“We are one of the very few fashion retailers in the Kenthurst/Dural area itself,” says Smik Clothing store manager Karen McLean. With labels such as Mink Pink, Wish, Billabong, Roxy and Mr K she attracts female customers between 16 and 35 years of age.
“Everything wintery is going well right now, but also things like Mink Pink shirt dresses which retail for around $50 [are selling well],” she says.
And even though she admits most locals would go to one of the big centres around town for an extensive shopping trip, she is proud Smik represents the typical rural general store of our times.
While the first ever store that was opened in Kenthurst by Gordon McKnight and his wife Nancy in the late 1950s enabled kids around town to have the odd sweet, it nowadays seems to be the odd fashion piece local teenagers crave and which boutiques like Smik happily provide for them.
Location: 39km north-west of Sydney CBD
Population: app. 5000
Brands: Mink Pink, Wish, Billabong, Roxy and Mr K