Leconfield House was built in 1872 for Reginald Wyndham, son of George Wyndham, founder of the Wyndham Estate, a vineyard and winery in the Lower Hunter Valley in New South Wales. The home is described as a white two-storey brick home with a red corrugated iron roof, stone foundations quarried near-by and hand made bricks made and fired on site. The outside walls are solid triple brick with no cavity and are 15 inches thick. The joinery timber used throughout is local Australian red cedar.
Downstairs the original ornate plaster ceilings are still intact and are 12 feet high. Upstairs, ceilings are 10 feet high. The house is “U” shaped and built around a sheltered courtyard. In one corner of the courtyard is a domed shaped well of some 6000 gallons used to catch rain water from the roof. It is still used today.
The name “Leconfield” came from a Wyndham relative, Lord Leconfield. Today, Leconfield is a small district positioned between Branxton, Dalwood and Greta with Leconfield House being the prominent property in the area.
When George Wyndham died in 1870 a large part of Dalwood was left to Reginald as part of an earlier family agreement. Reginald went up on to the ridge behind Dalwood House and built his home. He had married Julia Champain, born 1844, in 1867 and it was their son Reginald Horton Wyndham who laid the foundation stone of Leconfield House on 11 December 1871.
The property was named Leconfield after a relative in England, an uncle, four times removed, the Earl of Egremont who became Baron Leconfield in 1859.
Farming was not the only interest of Reginald. Coal had been first collected and later mined at Newcastle. Then came the discovery of the Greta seam. There were outcrops of coal near the property and Reginald decided to mine the coal. He drilled at various places on and near the property, his diary shows the tension of each day as the width of the seams were measured and the speculation as to whether or not it was part of the Greta seam. It was not until 1888 that the Great Greta Coal and Shale Company was formed and mining commenced ‘at the head of the gully running past the stables’. This was the beginning of the Leconfield Colliery. Reginald sub-divided a corner of the property to form the village of Leconfield. Lots were auctioned and miners built their homes. Mining lasted twenty years before being worked out. Today the mine is abandoned with machinery lying around the area. Leconfield village was abandoned and the Singleton Council incorporated the village lots into the surrounding farms.
Reginald spent a lot of time on behalf of the newly formed Hereford Society. He was a foundation member and prepared much of the first Hereford Herd Book and arranged for its publication.
Reginald and Julia had a son and four daughters. After Julia’s death in 1888, Reginald remarried Kathleen Osborne in 1890 (living until 1932). Kathleen and Reginald went on to have five daughters.
Reginald lost the property in 1892 following a drought and an economic depression. The bank foreclosed and took possession.
The Kennedy Era – 1895 – 1916
William Kennedy (1836 – 1894) purchased Leconfield in 1895 when he was aged 59, and moved with his wife, Maria, and part of his family from Bomaderry, South Coast. They operated a dairy farm in Bomaderry. During their lives William and Maria had twelve children. They were the second owners of Leconfield House.
At Leconfield, William continued with dairying helped by some of his family. Shortly after purchasing the property William had an accident with a bull on the property, seriously affecting his health, dying on 24 November 1896. He is buried in the Branxton Cemetery. The family continued on the property under Maria milking 100 cows by hand daily. Maria continued until retiring to live with one of her daughters at Toronto and later at Nowra, dying at the age of 84 on 28 April 1921 in Branxton Cemetery.
The Redman Era (1916 – post WW1 to 1962)
The third owners of Leconfield House, Thomas (1876 – 1958) and Mary Elizabeth (1876 – 1950) Redman owned the dairy farm and lived at Leconfield House. They had a total of eleven children, the first being born on 18/6/1895 and the last on 13/1/1917. As the children reached working age and married they inhabited the 5 houses (including Leconfield House) on the property.
The property continued as a dairy farm throughout this period. The house was vacated in 1959 by the Redmans, leaving it unoccupied until 1962. During this period the house fell into a derelict state to the point that cattle were able to wander through as they pleased.
It has been suggested that the house was vacated after Thomas Redman shot himself in the parlour.
The Powers Era – 1962 – 1980
The forth owner of Leconfield House, Mr Leo Power and family purchased the dairy farm which included Leconfield House. The house was facing demolition as an alternative to restoration. Fortunately the Power’s family decided to renovate the house and reoccupy it.
During this period the subdivision occurred whereby Leconfield House was subdivided from the surrounding dairy farm. Leconfield House is located on a 13 acre block within the dairy farm providing a right-of-way to the owners of Leconfield House. The block was surveyed in such a shape to allow Mr Powers to continue training his greyhound dogs by allowing for a training track running along the ridge to the south of Leconfield House.
The Power’s sold Leconfield House and block to Cyril and Milcie Staples but continued to share farm the dairy farm with the Wenham family. Subsequently the Wenham family purchased the dairy farm. This continues to today and is currently owned by Mark and Deanne Wenham.
Post 1980 to the present
The fifth owners of Leconfield House, Cyril Staples (born 11 February 1916) and his wife Milcie (born 13 October 1917) purchased Leconfield House on 16 July 1980 and selling the property in 1993.
The sixth owners of Leconfield House were Margaret and Graeme Charlton, moving from Sydney. They were the first people to operate Leconfield House as a guest house. The guest house provides accommodation in the Singleton, Pokolbin and Cessnock region. The house was sold in 2000.
The seventh owners, Luby and Richard Ridley owned the property from 2000 to January 2015. During this period they further developed Leconfield House as a guest house and installed ensuites for each bedroom.
The current owners, the eighth owners since being built in 1872, 148 years ago, Mark Dunford and Richard Holding purchased the property in January 2015. Since then they have worked to develop the gardens, purchase furnishings and fittings for the house and build the three bay garage to the south of the house in keeping with the design of Leconfield House.
The historic homestead is situated on a peaceful and private 13 acre parcel of land which was originally part of the Wyndham Estate. It is a home for gracious living and has some of the best views in the Hunter Valley. It overlooks the vineyards and lush farmlands of the area.
