Gardens

The first trees at the gardens were planted in 1945. After a period of rapid development in the 1960s, the gardens were opened to the public in 1967. The gardens occupy about 40 hectares on Black Mountain and include a herbarium.
The herbarium houses a large collection of pressed, dried plant specimens which are used for scientific research and as a reference for the identification of plants, including those growing at the gardens. The herbarium is not open to the public, except during special events.
The gardens are also involved in research into the botany, biology and horticulture of...
Lanyon is an historic pastoral property nestled in a valley, south of Canberra, on the banks of the Murrumbidgee river. Visitors to the property are first greeted by the sight of grazing livestock and will discover the main house situated amongst a variety of productive and leisure gardens. The main house dates from 1859 and has been restored and furnished to reflect the lifestyle of its past occupants. Nearby farm buildings, some built by convict labour in the 1830s and 1840s tell stories of Lanyon's workers through displays and exhibitions.Lanyon is itself a collection of buildings,...
Gledswood Farm Museum is an attraction of Gledswood Homestead, itself a tourist destination and heritage attraction. The museum is located in the granary of the coach house.422 artefacts, 196 photographs
Splendidly located on Sydney Harbour, Vaucluse House is nestled in a 19th century estate with a kitchen wing, stables and outbuildings. It is surrounded by 27 acres of gardens and grounds. The home of William Charles Wentworth, father of the Australian Constitution, his wife Sarah and family from 1827-1853, Vaucluse House depicts the social aspirations and lifestyles of the Wentworths and of the servants who lived and worked there.The interiors include original Wentworth pieces together with furniture, furnishings and collections of the early to mid 19th century.
The Conservation Resource Centre records the history of houses, furnishings and gardens in New South Wales. It provides information, original source material and specialist services relating to domestic design history and building conservation. The research library contains and important collection of architectural and furnishing pattern books, department store and trade catalogues, journals, pamphlets, charts and archival material, as well as reference books and current periodicals. The reference collection contains artefacts from New South Wales houses, including wallpapers, soft...
This Scottish Baronial Style Mansion was built in the late 1880's by James Ewan. Glenleigh is said to be the finest example of Victorian interiors with stencilling of some degree in each room. Ceilings in the main rooms were specially painted by Italian artists to fit in with the character of the individual room.
The entry to the Lachlan Historical Village is the Trigilana Wool Shed. After crossing a suspension bridge, visitors can view the fifty five buildings which comprise the village, including stores, authentic homesteads, a bank, a school, the gaol and a gold mining area. Special features include Henry Lawson's childhood home, the home of bushranger Ben Hall and a medical hall with a collection of over 2,000 apothecary items.20,000 items, 500 photographs
John Verge designed the country homestead Bedervale set in a pleasant eight acre garden on a working rural property. The homestead adjoins an earlier enclosed courtyard and farmyard. It contains a unique collection of the original families furniture and personal effects from the 1840's and is still lived in as a home.Family collection from pre 1840 to 1900 in situ plus recent family additions. Australian and English furniture, china, paintings, household effects and kitchen utensils. Horse drawn vehicles and machinery.
Rouse Hill estate is one of Australia's most culturally important historic properties, not only for its artefacts, furnishings, buildings
and gardens, but also because it is the most complete document of continuous family occupancy of a country house in New South Wales. Rouse Hill House is set on a 16 hectare rural property with stables, barn, piggery, slaughterhouse, woolshed and other farm buildings. The main house was constructed from 1813-18 and contents from the original family's occupancy to the present day remain intact.Estimated 250,000 objects of domestic and rural life from 1825 to...
The building that houses our collection is over 100 years old and is the oldest building in the main street. It is heritage listed with the national trust and is owned by the Manilla shire council. For many a year a baker's shop, Royce Cottage was originally built for Mr G.H. Royce, who arrived in Manilla in 1884. The restored building now houses a museum, with many rooms furnished as they would have been in the past. Other rooms feature historical artefacts, pictures of pioneers, local history information, radios and gramophones, vintage washing and sewing machines, the sporting...
Mary Boulton's Pioneer Cottage is a replica of an early settlers home with furnishings appropriate to the era. An outside shed displays a buggy, ploughs and farming tools and implements.Approximately 1,000 items
This art gallery was formerly the home and workplace of artists Margo and Gerald Lewers. The permanent collection is an important survey of the development of Modernism in Australian art from the early 1930s to the late 1970s. The collection focuses on abstraction and is represented by the Lewers and their contemporaries, including artists such as Ralph Balson, Yvonne Audette, Carl Plate, Frank and Margel Hinder and Tony Tuckson. The Gallery has three distinct exhibition spaces - a large purpose built gallery; the original homestead (c1900); and Ancher House, a fine example of domestic...
Neotsfield was established from a land grant to Henry Dangar in 1825. The main house and stables were constructed from sun dried bricks made on site by convict labour. The eastern and western wings were added a little later to provide a U shaped courtyard. The property, buildings and outbuildings are of significant historic and architectural importance. The admission fee includes a guided tour of the house, outbuildings, formal garden and exhibitions.
McCrossin's Mill Museum and function centre is owned and operated by volunteers of Uralla Historical Society. The superbly restored three-storey flour mill houses many exhibitions, each with a distinctive, sometimes even humorous flavour. Visitors are astonished to find such a "Professional" set up in the quaint village of Uralla. Population 2,500. They also love the mill's beautifully maintained gardens, and the "Death of Thunderbolt" Painting series.Major features: Chinese Artefacts, "Death of Thunderbolt paintings", Thunderbolt Exhibition, Corporal Cecil Stoker Exhibition. (WWI), Tricketts...
Built in 1895, this two-storey former hotel opened as a museum in 1971. There are 22 rooms housing turn of the century fashions, furnishing and artefacts. Features include a kitchen; laundry; slab school house and historic machinery displayed in the grounds.600 varied items; 1 ha. machinery items
Tocal Homestead is a collection of buildings dating from the 1820s including Webber's Cottage (1822), Blacksmith shop (1820s), Stone Barn (1830), Tocal Homestead (1841), Brick Stables (1860s) and Blacket Barn (1868). The Homestead itself, as with the out buildings, has remained virtually unchanged since its construction. The site also has evidence of Aboriginal inhabitants. The property Tocal originally operated as a sheep and horticultural enterprise, later becoming famous for its stud cattle and thoroughbred race horses Other features of the site include a bottle collection, graves,...
Elizabeth Bay House was constructed from 1835-1839, under the supervision of N.S.W based architects John Verge and John Bibb, from plans obtained from an unidentified English source for Alexander Macleay, Colonial Secretary of N.S.W 1826-1837 and his wife, Eliza. The house was intended to be the finest house in the colony. It was built within a celebrated landscape garden which was developed from 1826 onwards. Today the interiors of Elizabeth Bay house have been carefully reconstructed to the 1839-1845 period. Appropriate furniture, wallpaper, carpets, soft furnishings and fittings...
Once at the heart of a large estate, Elizabeth Farm was the home of John and Elizabeth Macarthur, and was an important social, political and agricultural centre during the first forty years after the establishment of the colony of New South Wales. Construction of the house commenced in 1793, and it remains the oldest surviving European building in Australia. Remodelled and extended in the 1820s, it is a typical early homestead, a single storey structure with encircling verandahs. The furnishings are largely reproduction, based on detailed research, and reflect the house's appearance and...
Eryldene is a charming house and garden situated in the heart of Ku-ring-gai on Sydney's North Shore. The Georgian Revival style house was designed by distinguished Australian Architect William Hardy Wilson in 1913 for Professor E.G. Waterhouse and his wife Janet and named after her family home in Kilmarnock, Scotland. Both the house and the garden are protected by a permanent conservation order issued by the NSW Heritage Council in 1979. It is recognised as the finest example of Hardy Wilson's work.

Prof. Waterhouse, a world authority on camellias, designed the unique garden renowned for its...
Historic Houses Trust NSW administors 13 heritage listed properties in NSW which contain collections dating from the late 18th century to present day.
The properties are: Rose Seidler House, Rouse Hill Estate, Elizabeth Bay House, Elizabeth Farm, Hyde Park Barracks, Museum of Sydney, Vaucluse House, Justice and Police Museum, Meroogal, Susannah Place, Government House, Lyndhurst Resource Centre. The Historic Houses Trust also administers The Mint building on Macquarie St, but it is not open to the public.See separate Guide entries for collection details.

Pages