When the Tedesco family bought a sprawling property in Sydney's Hills District, they knew nothing of its more than 220-year history. Nicolas Tedesco's elderly parents jumped at the opportunity to buy the heritage-listed Baulkham Hills home three years ago, with hopes of passing it down through their family. They had wanted a smaller "family farm" to replace their 12-acre home of many years near the Blue Mountains which had become too much to maintain.