Elizabeth Farm

Story

Elizabeth Farm is a historic estate in Rosehill, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Elizabeth Farm was the family home of wool pioneer, John and his wife Elizabeth Macarthur. It was commenced in 1793 on a slight hill overlooking the upper reaches of Parramatta River, 23 kilometres west of Sydney Cove. This area belonged to the Burramattagal clan of the Dharug people, whose presence is recalled in the name Parramatta.The small, solid three-roomed brick cottage was transformed, by the late 1820s, into a smart country house, surrounded by ‘pleasure grounds’, orchards and almost 1, 000 acres (4 km²) of semi-cleared land. Enveloped within later extensions, the early cottage remains intact, making it Australia’s oldest surviving European dwelling.It is managed by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales as a museum that is open to the public for a modest fee, as well as being listed on the State Heritage Register.MuseumThe homestead, now a house museum, is creatively furnished with props and copies of objects known to belong to the Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm. Impressive cedar joinery has been restored while carefully reproduced paint schemes, fabrics and floor coverings provide an authentic impression of this early 19th-century household. The Macarthurs' garden of native and exotic ornamentals, fruit trees and vegetables has been recreated around original plantings and archaeological features dating to the early 19th century.