Members Hour: Rouse Hill Estate

Welcome to Members Hour at Rouse Hill Estate.

Step back in time and experience how extraordinary Rouse Hill Estate is.

Remarkably, six generations of the Rouse and Terry families occupied the house from its construction in the early 1800s until the late 1990s, when it opened as a museum. Each generation has left its mark, never erasing the evidence of those who lived there before but instead adding to it, forming a richly textured series of interiors and landscapes. Chairs from the 1840s sit beside textiles from the 1950s, grand tour paintings sit above mantelpieces crowded with photographs and mementos, and a 1960s television sits in a room whose walls were papered half a century earlier.

Members will have very special access to the first floor of the main house, which is rarely opened to the public. Then you are invited to discover the rest of the property with self-guided tours, help to feed the farm animals or bring a picnic to enjoy in the garden.

Members Hour is an exclusive time dedicated to Museums of History NSW members at each of our historic houses, gardens and museums. Wander around and enjoy each property at your leisure. Ask our expert museum staff all your questions, as you will have them to yourselves.

Bookings essential.

356 Annangrove Road, Rouse Hill NSW 2155

Rouse Hill Estate

356 Annangrove Road, Rouse Hill NSW 2155
  • Wheelchair accessible
Plan your visit
  • Sunday 28 April 9am–10am

Rouse Hill Estate stories

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The refreshed visitor centre at Rouse Hill Estate

Layered histories: refurbishing the visitor centre at Rouse Hill Estate

Refreshed and renewed, the refurbished visitor centre at Rouse Hill Estate, on Dharug Country, offers visitors an invitation to explore the property and discover its richly layered history

The exterior of the service wing of the main house and the arcade

Rouse Hill conservation works 2024 – 2025

After detailed condition inspections of the state heritage–listed Rouse Hill Estate, MHNSW’s Capital Works and Heritage teams have begun a large-scale conservation project that will sensitively address a range of identified issues at the site

Jar of jam / preserve with spoon and rustic bread on wooden board in kitchen at Vaucluse House

History with flavour

Good food and generous hospitality were part of the rhythms of domestic life at Rouse Hill House. A collection of cookbooks and handwritten recipes accumulated over more than a hundred years remains in the house, and provides a taste of the family’s culinary repertoire through times of boom and bust

Members

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Tour

Members Tour: Wentworth Mausoleum

Enjoy a members-only walking tour of the rarely opened Wentworth Mausoleum and learn about William Charles Wentworth’s extravagant 1873 state funeral

Wentworth Road, Vaucluse NSW 2030
Thursday 13 March 2pm–3.30pm