“Leslieville” is the former Cooks Hill home of the country’s famous biscuit baron, William Arnott, who spawned an international empire from his humble beginnings in a Maitland bakery.   

Mr Arnott’s flagship “Steam Biscuit Factory” has not survived but the family home next door – named after his eldest son Leslie – still stands resplendent around 140 years after it was built. 

Agent Rob O’Brien said the property was “beautifully restored” after it was sold by training organisation WEA in 2008. 

The impressive facade fronting Union Street features a tiled entry, manicured gardens and iron lacework. 

A grand staircase leads to the master suite upstairs, fitted with an ensuite and walk-in robe. There are six bedrooms, all with high ceilings, while eight of the original fireplaces have been retained. 

The home has all the period features that hark back to the Arnotts’ era – decorative cornices, timber floors and marble vanities – but has been adapted to suit a modern lifestyle. The kitchen has been fitted with European appliances and an open-plan living area overlooks the pool. 

Stephen Arnott is the great, great, great grandson of William Arnott. He runs Morpeth Sourdough from the original bakehouse in Morpeth where William and his brother David made bread, milkshakes and biscuits in the 1860s before they moved to Newcastle and founded the Arnott’s brand. 

“It’s been six or seven generations so there’s quite a few of us now,” he said.

“The house [Leslieville] was owned by my grandfather Geoffrey Arnott – the chairman of Arnott’s Biscuits – but he sold it in the 1970s and that’s when it left the family.” 

Mr Arnott has taken a keen interest in his ancestry and described William Arnott as “very hard working and very entrepreneurial”.

“He worked six days a week and he was director of the Sunday school in Newcastle,” he said. “He was very religious.” 

The Arrowroot biscuit was developed because it was seen to be a health food for babies; apt given that William Arnott had fifteen children between two wives.

His first wife Monica Sinclair died in 1865, and the same year he married his second wife Margaret Fleming in Morpeth’s Phoenix Park. 

“One of the upstairs bedrooms in Leslieville was a very long large room and they would have used it like a dormitory,” Mr Arnott said. 

HOUSE OF THE WEEK 

Cooks Hill 

63 Union Street 

6 bedrooms 3 bathrooms 2 garage 

Price guide on request 

Expressions of interest close Friday March 10 at 4pm 

Agent: Century 21 Novocastrian 

Contact: Rob O'Brien 49287400 or 0408493266