In 1836 Thomas Stubbs, a musician and auctioneer, bought 18 acres at the southern end of Tarban Creek and lived in a wooden house on the site. In 1847 for £1,100 he sold to the Marist Fathers, French missionaries to the South Pacific. By then there was a stone house on the site, fruit trees and grapevines. In 1857 the architect William Weaver was commissioned by the Marists to construct the Georgian building known today as The Priory to incorporate Stubbs’ cottage.  Thomas Salter purchased it in 1874 for £2000. It was sold to the Government and became part of the Tarban Asylum in 1888. The building was restored in the mid 1980s for occupation by the NSW Government Mental Health Review Tribunal. It is now in Hunters Hill Council’s hands and a new purpose for this historic building is being sought.