Historical information
Stonleigh is one of Wodonga’s earliest buildings and stands on land granted to Daniel Rhodes in 1854, in one of the first land sales conducted in Wodonga. The building commenced soon after with the stone walls being 18 inches (46cm) thick. It was a four-room granite rubble stone building with central door and a window on either side, with a separate kitchen, as was typical of the worker's cottage of the day. The original roof would have been shingles but it was replaced with corrugated iron.
It passed through several owners including Paul Huon in 1858. Peter Tenner, a farmer and vigneron took over in 1866 when it was described as “built of stone and having a cellar and a detached kitchen plus outside toilet, and a shed or two.”
In the late 1880’s it was owned by William Smith who had come to Wodonga as a missionary for the Presbyterian Church and who, together with John Whan, storekeeper, was instrumental in building the Presbyterian Church nearby.
Between 1890 and 1910 further buildings were added, consisting of double brick walls, two bedrooms, kitchen, laundry with brick and copper, bathroom and side verandah.
William Smith established Wodonga Cordage Works in the Stonleigh buildings. The front room of the house was the display room for the business which manufactured and sold fishing lines, various types of cordage and water bags, the latter being of hand-sewn canvas.
After 1954 Stonleigh became a bottle depot and bottle museum under ownership of Ramon Porta. At one stage he had over 50,000 bottles on display.
In 1991 it was purchased by Mark Fraser, a cabinet maker, who made extensive renovations at the rear of the premises and internally, but left the façade untouched.
Over recent times, Stonleigh was the home of several business including a florist, a patchwork maker and a café.
Stonleigh was sold in 2021 and is now a private residence.
Significance
These images capture one of Wodonga's oldest buildings.
Physical description
A series of photos, both colour and black and white, showing the building "Stonleigh' at different periods
