The charming stone house which stands at 26 Stoney Creek Road, next to the Bexley RSL, celebrated its centenary in 1993. It was built by English stonemason, James Wildman, who was responsible for quite a number of notable buildings at Gulgong, NSW. Wildman was born in Yorkshire in 1856. After arriving in Australia he married Mary MacIntosh on 21 July 1888 at Glebe. That same year he purchased land at Stoney Creek Road but resided at Wells Street, Redfern. First a timber building was erected, but judging by Sands Directory, somewhere between 1892 and 1893 a two-roomed stone house was built. The present house is much larger so we can reasonably assume that the house was only in its initial stage when this was recorded.
We do not know what buildings James Wildman built in the St George District but we do know that he later went to Gulgong in search of work. Whilst at Gulgong (the town on the Australian $10 paper bank note, 1966 – 1993) he built the memorial bandstand in Anzac Park, the Church of England rectory, the main hall of the Royal Picture Palace, and the building now used as the town’s museum as well as numerous other buildings in the vicinity of Gulgong.
James Wildman died on 24 August 1918 at the age of 62. The Wildmans had eight children – seven boys and one girl. That girl was Marjory, later to become Marjory Piper, a longtime SGHS member. Marjory married William Piper in 1944 and lived in the house for all but the last two years of her life.
What appears to be a compact cottage from the street is in fact a large rambling house. The façade is of dressed sandstone and features an attractive bay window. A side view reveals that the house is in fact two-storied by virtue of the land sloping away from the main road.
At the rear is an attractive garden dominated by a mature Phoenix palm. Wildman must have been interested in gardening as old photos show a bush-house and many exotic plantings still survive.
In the back garden is the original horse trough that was formerly located on the corner of King Georges Road and Connells Point Road, South Hurstville. It is the property of the SGHS and has been kept in Marjorie Piper’s backyard for many years for safekeeping.
Interestingly enough, amongst the old photos mentioned are a few attempts at recording the interior of the house. There are photos of the main entrance hall and other rooms which have obviously been done by time-lapse. The results are not marvellous but more recent colour photos are revealing.
Another photograph shows cattle ambling down Stoney Creek Road, a sight hard to image now in an area usually congested with heavy vehicle traffic.
The front entrance retains its beautiful leadlight panelling but many of the original features have been removed, particularly internally. The chimneys and all but one fireplace have long since disappeared. Nevertheless the house lends much character to an area otherwise devoid of that particular quality. The house will probably be put up for sale shortly and it would be sad if this piece of old Bexley was destroyed.
This article was first published in the November 1991 edition of our magazine.
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