Minimbah House

The house was designed by architect Benjamin Backhouse.[1] The original plans were drawn up by William Dangar but redrew from the project due to the death of his wife.[1] It was built between 1874-1877.[1] The building cost has believed to be 60,000 pounds which would equal 3.2 million in today's currency.[2]

The property sits on 48 hectares and contains 45 rooms.[3] The mansion 3000 square metres with a house cover one acre.[2] The house is styled in Victorian Filigree with a cast iron verandah.[1] The house has two stories made out of sandstone with an U shaped floor plan.[1] It has open French windows and an ornamental stone chimneys.[1] The staircase is made of Australian cedar and rosewood which was hand carved in Germany.[1] There are three small outbuildings with painted corrugated iron roofs.[1] The stained windows are the first to feature native Australian animals.[1] There is surveillance tower which was used as look out for bushrangers with a hide away for children.[3]

Duncan Forbes Mackay expanded the property to 30,000 acres soon after purchasing it.[1] In 1973 saw the property restored and also the addition of swimming pool, stables and horse yards, concrete tennis court and landscaping.[1] The 1973 restoration project cost about $1 million.[1] In June 1997 a heritage 2001 application was lodged to the Heritage Office in order to complete general repairs and maintenance.[1] In the early 2000s restoration was overseen by Newcastle heritage architect Barney Collins.[3]

In 1823 Duncan Forbes Mackay bought the property from John Cobb that was 2,000 acres.[1] According to local stories Mackay built the house after not being invited to party the Dangar family property Baroona.[2] After Mackay died in 1894 the property was sold to the mining magnate Sylvester Brown in 1901.[1] In 1915 John Morrissey brought the property and later sold it to Mr Foden.[1] In 1945, Mrs J Birdsall purchased and donated it to the Aboriginal Inland Mission.[1] In 1973 Marie and Alwyn Well purchased the property.[1] In 1982 Frank Richwood purchased the property for $300,000 and lived for 11 years.[1] In 1994 it was purchased by Bliss Ryan for $940,000.[3] In 2007 the property was sold for $3.21 million.[3]