Originally built by a brewer on three acres of land and on a modest scale in 1879. The house was extended in 1899 to its present layout by Mary Jane Slaney, the widow of a wine and spirit merchant. In 1899 an ambitious lady, named Mary Jane Slaney, purchased Sunnycroft house and surrounding land. Mrs Slaney was a successful business woman and mother, she had been widowed twice but continued to ensure a happy home for her family and those who worked for her. Sunnycroft is her ideal home, a place very much loved and enjoyed, then and now. Mrs Slaney had house extensively remodelled, commissioning the original builder, Alfred Roper, to complete the work. A new much larger entrance was constructed, a grand staircase built in the centre of the house, and a new wing added which included a billiard room and additional guest accommodation above. Her choice of interior design and decoration was heavily influenced by the latest fashions of the Victorian period and included the best quality materials as well as the latest in technology such as a bathroom, hot water and central heating. Mrs Slaney aspired to have a home, garden and estate that had all the essential features of the much larger grand estates of the time, but much smaller in scale. She added a lodge at the top of the drive, a coach house and stables, kennels, glasshouses and an impressive conservatory. In 1910 it was bought by J. V. T. Lander and stayed with the Lander family until 1997 when it passed to the National Trust. Apart from minor cosmetic changes, including the introduction of electricity, little has changed since Mary Jane Slaney extended the house.