This little pocket of fertile country extends north from Heathcote railway station for about 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km), with the railway as its western boundary, runs back to the east in Royal National Park for about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km), over the crest of the Great Dividing Range, between the watershed of the Port Hacking and Woronora Rivers.
At the 1891 census most people lived at Sylvania and settlements clustered along the line at Sutherland, Como, Heathcote and Waterfall.
Heathcote was one of a number of suburbs within the Shire of Sutherland that were to be established adjacent to land reserved as national park.
No doubt the reason for this neglect on the part of home-seekers lies in the fact that the Bottle Forest area, which adjoins the railway and embraces the most fertile soil and greatest elevation, had been locked up in two large family estates and never thrown open to the public for purchase.
[3][1] Some 50 acres (20 ha) of freehold land was purchased about 1879 by Mr Abel Harber, a wealthy brickmaker of that period.
[4][1] Unfortunately, following financial losses in connection with the building of the Imperial Arcade, Sydney, Harber abandoned Heathcote Hall for the benefit of his creditors.
However the mortgagees who took possession in 1892 did not find the estate a disposable proposition,[4] for New South Wales was then in the throes of the temporary financial collapse of the 1890s.
A mansion and park at Heathcote before the advent of the motorcar and with only one train a day service was not a good proposition for a city businessman struggling through the competitive times of the 1890s.
[4][1] Early in 1901, Mr R R Brown purchased Heathcote Hall with the intention of retiring there for the few short months of life that leading Sydney medical men had advised was left to him.
[5][1] In 2000 the Heritage Council of NSW provided a grant of $150,000 to undertake emergency works on the property, notably the hall's tower.
[4][1][6] As of 2024 the property surrounding Heathcote Hall has undergone major development with a combination of Town House and Apartment buildings now established with residents now moved in.
[1] Immediately south of the timber-framed structure is the remains of the foundation of a building which the owner has identified as dating from around the 1950s but which was never completed.
A coach house building was originally located just to the north inside the existing rear gate on Tecoma Street.
A number of stables constructed of timber frame and corrugated iron and steel are located in both the north-eastern and western sections of this area of the site.
There is visual evidence that some of the structures are quite old and therefore the entire complex should be the subject of a further assessment by a qualified consultant prior to the removal of any fabric.
[1] The fencing around the property has been replaced in recent years but there is the remnant of an original iron archway and gate, immediately south of the front of the house giving access to Dillwynnia Grove.