In 1874 Captain Lewis Truscott and his wife Elizabeth retired from active business and built this seven room stone and timber house. The two acres of land extended to Gladesville Road; after the Joubert subdivision which created the site of St Josephs College, the Truscotts lent £100 to the College for the purchase of a lot along Gladesville Road. Some of the fine stained glass windows in Villa Maria Church are in memory of the Truscotts. Captain and Mrs Truscott had established a shipping company together and traded between Sydney and the East, Batavia, the Pacific islands and South America. Mrs Truscott helped raise and educate an Irwin great-niece, and Irwins lived in Dacre Villa and this house. Later the O’Farrell family, also relatives, resided here.