Elizabeth Farm

Elizabeth Farm house - front verandah and carriageway

'A most excellent brick house' Elizabeth Farm

Curator Dr Scott Hill explores some of the enduring mysteries buried in the architecture of Australia’s oldest surviving homestead

Joseph Lycett, 'The residence of John McArthur Esq. near Parramatta, New South Wales'. Aquatint. Published London, John Souter, 1825. Elizabeth Farm collection, Museums of History New South Wales.
Museum

A turbulent past

With its deep, shady verandahs and elegant symmetry, Elizabeth Farm is an iconic early colonial bungalow

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Bicornes, bonnets & boaters

There’s a variety of headwear across our collections ranging in date from early to late nineteenth century

Some kitchen items on the table in front of the fireplace
Onsite

Colonial life at Elizabeth Farm

As they explore the home of the Macarthur family, which dates from 1793, students learn about the lives of the family and their convict servants and the impact of colonisation on the traditional owners of the Parramatta area

Distemper paint

Paint doesn't come any more natural, practical or traditional than distemper, a beautiful interior finish for walls and ceilings

Elizabeth Farm house - front verandah

Elizabeth Farm - The Old and The New

This film was digitised as part of a special project to preserve 'at risk' audio-visual archives

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Convict Sydney

John Macarthur - Ambitious, volatile, self-confident

John Macarthur is well remembered as an ambitious and ruthless soldier who forged a powerful colonial farming dynasty.

Students dressed up in stone courtyard with washing buckets and laundry.
Onsite

Now and then

As students are guided through the property, they discover that the household lived without the benefits of running water, bathrooms, electricity, appliances or paved roads