Harbourside retreat

When an Irish knight was caught kidnapping a local heiress, his punishment was swift: exile to a single-storey cottage in NSW. Over five decades, new owners transformed the cottage into a large and picturesque estate. By the 1830s, the gardens and grounds covered most of the present-day suburb of Vaucluse but the main house of the family’s dreams was still unfinished. In 1915 Vaucluse House became Australia’s first official house museum, and continues today to delight and intrigue visitors with its stories and still-secluded grounds.

Stories

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image of painting showing a dramatic panoramic view of harbour surrounded by natural bushland with Vaucluse estate in the foreground.
Museum stories

Not a lovelier site

‘There is not a lovelier site in the known world’, wrote the Sydney-born barrister and novelist John Lang about the Wentworth family’s estate of Vaucluse

Wentworth Road, Vaucluse NSW 2030

Vaucluse House

Birrabirragal and Gadigal Country

Wentworth Road, Vaucluse NSW 2030
  • Restaurant
Plan your visit

Donors enjoying the 'Syrens of Sydney' concert
Latest News

The Syrens of Sydney: a bespoke donor experience

On a perfect autumn afternoon in late May, donors were immersed in the musical world of the Wentworths and their contemporaries at the 'Syrens of Sydney' concert held at Vaucluse House

Vaucluse Bay, Port Jackson, NSW
Convict Sydney

Harbourside Gothic: The convict origins of Vaucluse House

Its architectural style is not all that is gothic about Vaucluse House. Discover the dark history of the house’s first owner, Henry Browne Hayes

Dairy, Vaucluse House

The coolest room in the house

What practical techniques can we learn from historical building design to minimise heat and energy consumption in our homes today?

Horticulturalist Stephen Goldsworthy planting seedlings in the kitchen garden
Conservation

Vaucluse House kitchen garden

The Vaucluse House kitchen garden recently underwent a significant rejuvenation project to preserve the site and allow it to continue to be used as a valuable educational resource

Photo of the Wentworth mausoleum with tabled light coming through the trees

Wentworth Mausoleum perimeter fence conservation

MHNSW is undertaking the first comprehensive conservation works to the fence surrounding the 1870s resting place of William Charles Wentworth

Learning program

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Students wearing dress up costumes and laughing in the nursery.
Onsite

Child's Play

Students learn about what it was like to live at Vaucluse House for the wealthy family of William Charles and Sarah Wentworth, with their ten children and many servants

(Vaucluse Bay) (c1880)

Dinghy and kayak registration at Vaucluse Bay

The historic 10-hectare Vaucluse House estate includes the beach paddock where dinghy racks and kayak spaces are located. We manage the registration of these areas through annual permits

Annual Giving: Sharing our stories

Your support will help us to preserve and share the stories of NSW through our places, collections, archives and programs

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