In 1911 Thomas Farquhar, a successful stockbroker from Scotland, commissioned the famous Arts and Crafts architects Herbert Baker and FLH Fleming to design his home. The house is sited majestically on the Westcliff ridge, originally on five acres of land extending from Pallinghurst Road to the Old Government Road (Jan Smust Avenue). Built of locally quarried stone with the first floor class in ship-lapped timber with a shingled roof, the house was extended in 1927 by Fleming to almost double its original size for J Neilson, another wealthy stockbroker.