In 1856 Kennedy bought 28 acres on the hills above Halswell with a licence to cut the bush.

[3] Kennedy opened a sawmill and felled trees from the bush using a team of bullocks to haul the processed timber on a sledge down a track.

[4]: 263  He built two houses, the first in the bush, the second on flat land opposite the present quarry park.

He named this ‘Waterford.’ Neither house remains, though the site of the Kennedy home is now a featured location on one of the bush walks below the Sign of the Bellbird.

[4]: 264 The flat land at Kennedys Bush was originally owned by W. G. Brittan and Michael J. Burke who bought it as part of the Lansdowne Run from the Canterbury Association in 1851.

[4]: 264  In 1954 the Christchurch City Council sold 32 subdivided sections on the quarry-side of Kennedys Bush Road, possibly to help fund the royal visit that year.