NameBellmontAlternative NameWahroongaTypeFarmResidenceGeolocation[1] DescriptionWalter Dunster purchased Lot 6, 112 acres on which 'Bellmont' stands circa 1900.
According to the Dunster family, Walter had the house and dairy yards and outbuildings built in 1904. He named the home 'Wahroonga'. Thomas Whitfield was the builder.
The following excerpt is taken from a letter written by Ced Dunster in 1983 and is the property of the Dunster family. 'Father bought a property adjoining "The Hill" on the south boundary of the property, but he had to build a home on it, also bails, dairy etc. Well that took 6 months, so in the meantime we lived in a house about half a mile from "The Hill" property which had bails, dairy and outbuildings and was a farm in its own right at the time. In fact it was the farm that my Dad and Mum started life on when they married in 1894, and I was born there three years later. Well the new home and bails and outbuildings were finished, and we moved into the property called "Wahroonga"'.
In 1912, Samuel (Sam) Hercules and Jane (nee Bell) McDonald purchased Lot 6, 112 acres of the Bassett-Darley estate at Indigo Range and named the property ‘Bellmont’. It is possible the McDonald family made additions to the homestead.
Sam McDonald was one of the original signatories on the petition to form Shellharbour Council, the third oldest council in NSW, and an Alderman on Shellharbour Municipal Council 1928-1936. He also petitioned for the locality to be known as the ‘Indigo Range’, which appears on several maps of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The farm remained in the McDonald family until its sale to Clearly Bros (hard rock quarry) in the late 20th century. Sam’s daughter, Mrs. Lorna Brown remained its occupant until moving to a nursing home.
In 1961, R.J. Carpenter is recorded as occupier of ‘Bellmont Estate’ 112 acres, 1r, 21p. Carpenter was followed by Harry and Doris Brown, and then D.L Cody. During this time, the pasture lands were leased to the Dunster family of ‘The Hill’.
Digital TourInteractive Map of Bellmont provided by the owners Cleary Bros, May 2024.
