December 1935, Matron Rothery and Sister Heard took up residence at the Hospital, and there are entries pertaining to the organisation of monogrammed bed linen and other paraphernalia needed for the function of the Hospital during December. Sir Thomas Buckland is noted as visiting first on Friday 3 January 1936 staying the night and leaving the next morning. Miss Beatrice Buckland, the Hospital's first patient was admitted on Wednesday 3 February, and was brought to the Hospital by Mr Harold Buckland. The ongoing entries for the period detail the employment of staff, staff movements and illnesses, planting of shrubs and plants from "Rosens", the weather, accounts, purchase of hardware, works being undertaken around the place, minor building maintenance and rectification and all the minutiae of getting the Hospital up and running. The official opening is entered at Saturday 25 January 1936: Sir Thomas and Lady Buckland took a keen and active interest in the formative period of the Hospital, and Sir Thomas was involved in details such as the selection of the linoleum for the hallways. He visited on a regular basis for both practical, administrative purposes and to visit his daughter. During 1936, he visited or corresponded on some 50 occasions, in 1937, 25 and by 1938, 45. By this time, Sir Thomas was 90 years old, and was still driving up from Hunters Hill to Springwood'. Sir Thomas died on 11 June 1947, two weeks prior to his 99th birthday at his residence, Lyndhurst in Hunters Hill. His estate was valued at £589,958: after £40,000 bequests to each surviving child (2 sons, 3 daughters), legacies of £24,000 to other family members and some £11,000 to sundry schools and hospitals, he left 2/3 of the residue to the Buckland Convalescent Hospital, Springwood and the income of 1/3 to the Church of England homes for children. The second phase is believed to represent the development of the property during the 1934–1983 period and incorporates the following development and landscape features: the hospital; caretaker's cottage; tennis court (from phase 1 – converted to a croquet court); dairy; paddocks and chook shed; formalising the driveway from Hawkesbury Road; landscaping; fibro cottage; kitchen garden and flower garden; 1946 renovations – probably the sun room and verandah infills (two-storey section); fire stairs installed. Buckland Village In 1971, the Directors of the BCH were compelled to sell five residential blocks fronting Patterson Road in order