Mr and Mrs Joseph Williams and their two sons George and James with their niece Elizabeth Frear arrived in Melbourne by sailing ship 'Lochiel' in 1853. They erected the cottage in 1854. They lived in the iron cottage with its rounded roof, until a weatherboard house consisting of four rooms was erected in 1860 with further additions in the 1870s. Joseph Williams was a South Barwon Shire councillor from 1860 until 1861. He was looked after at Summer Hill by his son for 21 years prior to his death on 13 Jun 1892. His wife Hannah was the daughter of Captain Joseph Wilson. She died on 19 December 1863. They are both buried in the Methodist section of the Mount Duneed Cemetery.
George Williams was the oldest resident of the district, when he passed away on 4 November 1919 at Summer Hill. Born in Liverpool in 1836 he had resided at Mount Duneed since coming to Australia with the exception of ten years, which were spent in Melbourne working for the Geological Department. For many years he was engineer and secretary for the Shire of Barrabool. He was a Barrabool Shire councillor serving from 1870 until 1872. He was active in church affairs as a trustee, class leader and steward of the Methodist churches of South Melbourne and Mount Duneed. He left a grown-up family of two sons and three daughters. His wife Elizabeth née Frear pre-deceased him by 19 months. They are buried in the Methodist section of the Mount Duneed Cemetery.
The stone shed (in the picture below) and stone wall (surrounding the south side of the house), was also built in the 1860s. Mr GWF McIntyre purchased this property and Mr and Mrs S Seiffert, with their two sons Lindsay and Murray, were the tenants for many years.