Saumarez commenced in 1835 as a squatting run owned by Henry Dumaresq. Its pastoral licence was acquired in 1856 by H A Thomas. The freehold was sold to Francis White in 1874 whose son (F J White) took over the property at 23 years of age and married Margaret Fletcher in 1881. As he prospered, he built and renewed the farm buildings and created a new single-storey house above the farm to which an upper level was added eighteen years later. Today it stands as a 34 room Edwardian mansion with fine iron lacework set in elaborate gardens with a rich collection of farm buildings dating from 1840 to 1950. The daughters of FJ and Maggie White lived in the house until the death of Elsie in 1981 when the property was donated to The National Trust. The house contains the family's furniture and memorabilia and provides an insight for the viewer of the personal life of a successful grazing family in the rich New England Tablelands.