Rouse Hill House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rouse Hill Estate |
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The Rouse family in front of Rouse Hill Estate, in 1859.
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| General information | |
| Status | House museum, public park |
| Type | Homestead complex |
| Architectural style | Australian Georgian |
| Location | off Windsor Road (356 Annangrove Road), Rouse Hill, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°40′33″S 150°54′27″E / 33.6758158602°S 150.9076283130°E |
| Construction started | 1813 |
| Completed | 1819 |
| Client | Richard Rouse, Superintendent of Public Works and Convicts at Parramatta |
| Owner | Sydney Living Museums |
| Landlord | Office of Environment and Heritage, Government of New South Wales |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect |
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| Official name: Rouse Hill House and Farm | |
| Type: | Landscape |
| Criteria: | a., c., d., e., f., g. |
| Designated: | 2 April 1999 |
| Reference #: | 00002 |
Rouse Hill Estate is a historic home and property located in Rouse Hill, Sydney, Australia. It was the family home of Richard Rouse, who was in charge of public works and convicts in Parramatta.
The main house was built in the Australian Georgian style between 1813 and 1819. More buildings were added around 1863. Today, Sydney Living Museums looks after the estate as a museum that is open to everyone. Parts of the original land are now Rouse Hill Regional Park and other buildings. The estate was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 because of its important history.
Contents
History of Rouse Hill Estate
The Rouse Family's Story
Richard Rouse (1774-1852) started building his home at Rouse Hill in 1813. He officially received the land, which was about 182 hectares (450 acres), in October 1816. Between 1818 and 1825, Richard, his wife Elizabeth, and their family moved into their new house from Parramatta.
Richard Rouse came to Australia in 1801 as a free settler. He quickly became successful. By 1805, he was the Superintendent of Public Works and Convicts in Parramatta. In this role, he helped build additions to Old Government House, Parramatta for Governor Lachlan Macquarie. These projects might have inspired Rouse to build a larger house than he first planned.
He chose the site for his new house while building toll houses for Macquarie's road to the Hawkesbury River. Rouse built his house on a hill, right next to the toll house on the Parramatta to Windsor road. This spot was very visible, possibly so it could also be used as an inn. Rouse Hill was strategically placed, overlooking the busy Windsor Road. From here, the Rouse family managed their other farms and interests.
Richard Rouse was not a farmer by birth, but he was smart and good with money. When he passed away in 1852, he owned a lot of land across the colony. The Rouse Hill estate grew to about 485 hectares (1200 acres) by the time he died. He left the property to his son, Edwin Rouse. After Edwin died in 1862, the property went to his son, Edwin Stephen Rouse.
Many other buildings were finished after the main house, like the laundry, a small cottage, a barn, and a woolshed. The garden was also designed around this time. Some trees from the mid-1800s are still there today.
Later generations made more changes. A summerhouse, woolshed, and a two-storey service wing were added in the 1860s. The stables were built in 1876 and 1877. The house was redecorated in 1885. These changes were made carefully to keep the original look of the house.
Rouse Hill Public School opened nearby in 1888.
Edwin Stephen Rouse's daughter, Nina, returned to live at Rouse Hill in 1924 with her husband. After Edwin Stephen Rouse died in 1931, the estate was managed by family members. By 1963, the property had shrunk to 43 hectares (106 acres) due to parts being sold off. Nina Terry died at Rouse Hill House in 1968. The remaining land was then divided between her two sons, Gerald and Roderick Terry.
When a family disagreement happened in 1968, a committee was formed to protect Rouse Hill. This led to the NSW Government buying the property. It later became part of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales (HHT). In 1974, the homestead land was reduced to about 8.15 hectares (20 acres).
Government Takes Over
In March 1978, the NSW government bought the property, including its 24 outbuildings and many of its contents. The government started restoration work. Experts began to study the buildings and their contents to plan how to protect them. Urgent repairs were made to the house and other buildings. A fire safety system was also put in the garden.
The Rouse Hill Estate remained in the same family for a very long time, until 1978. Because of the family's history, the property still has many old and delicate features. This makes the estate very special and important for understanding history.
Rouse Hill as a Museum
In 1984, the summer house was repaired. In 1987, the property was given to the Historic Houses Trust (HHT). The family still helped by allowing Gerald Terry to live there and by transferring many family items to the Hamilton Rouse Hill Trust.
Since 1978, many family items have been returned. The collection now has over 20,000 objects, including clothes, furniture, tools, and even old cars!
By 1993, the HHT managed 10 hectares (25 acres) of land. When the HHT opened Rouse Hill Estate to the public in 1999, it was on a small scale. In 2007, the HHT planned to make the site better for visitors. They wanted to add new visitor facilities, a cafe, shops, and an auditorium. This would allow thousands of people to visit each year.
The property won an Energy Australia National Trust Heritage Award in 2004.
In 2008, the HHT received money to start the education part of their plan. To protect the historic area, the government created Rouse Hill Regional Park. They also moved the old Rouse Hill Public School (from 1888) and nearby land to the HHT. The main Windsor Road was moved further away from the house and school to protect the site.
In 2009-2010, construction was almost finished on the new visitor areas. The old schoolhouse was fixed up and painted in Victorian colours to look like a 19th-century school. A cafe, shop, education centre, and outdoor auditorium were built. Parking and security were also improved. These changes allowed more visitors, including up to 20,000 children from local schools each year.
Research into the property also uncovered new information about the old Hawkesbury Road (1794-1813). This road was important because it was where a conflict between convicts and troops, known as the "battle of Vinegar Hill," happened in 1804. The exact location of this event has been debated, but new evidence suggests it was likely near Rouse Hill. A line of very old trees by the road might even date back to that time.
Rouse Hill House, built in 1813, is amazing because it's one of the longest continuously lived-in houses in Australia. It has the oldest surviving garden in Australia, and its original buildings, interiors, and collections are still mostly intact. Its connection to the "battle of Vinegar Hill" adds another layer of importance.
By June 2016, more people were visiting through special tours of the house. Work was also completed to fix up the farm's dairy area. The bathhouse was repaired in September 2017.
Changes Over Time
Since the house was started in 1813 on the 182-hectare (450-acre) property, here are some of the changes that have happened:
- 1818 – House completed.
- c. 1820 – Cottage built.
- 1825 – Family moved in.
- c. 1825 – First stage of the garden laid out.
- 1840s – Barn, woolshed, and laundry wing built.
- 1855 – Verandahs added to the house; summerhouse and slaughter house built.
- 1860s – Two-storey service wing added.
- 1862 – House roof covered with slate.
- c. 1865 – Second stage of garden changes, including new beds and fences.
- 1865-67 – Two-storey service wing completed.
- 1876-77 – Stables built.
- 1885 – House decorated and partly refurnished.
- c. 1885 – Third stage of garden changes, including a kitchen garden and new paths.
- 1888 – Rouse Hill Public School opened nearby.
- 1932 – Studio changed into a breakfast room.
- 1951-63 – Land was sold off, reducing the property to 43 hectares (106 acres).
- 1957 – Bathhouse renovated.
- 1961 – Glass enclosure on the western verandah removed.
- 1965 – Nursery floor replaced.
- c. 1968 – Fourth stage of garden changes, including driveway rerouting.
- 1968 – More land sold off.
- 1974 – Final land division.
- 1984 – Summer house repaired.
- 1993 – 10 hectares (25 acres) of land remained under HHT management.
- 2008 – HHT received funding for the education part of its plan.
- 10 March 2009 – More land transferred to the HHT from the road bypass project.
- 2009-10 – Construction finished on new visitor facilities, including the old schoolhouse, cafe, and education centre.
- June 2016 – More tours offered; dairy area conserved.
What Makes Rouse Hill Estate Special?
Rouse Hill Estate is truly unique in Australia because it shows so much of its own history. The buildings, furniture, objects, and even the landscape tell the story of one family who lived there for seven generations, from the early 1800s to the late 1900s.
The property is special because it has been continuously occupied by the same family. This means that many parts of the garden and house from different time periods are still here. You can see how styles and ways of living changed over time. This makes it a perfect place to study how gardens and homes developed in Australia.
The property was in good condition as of September 1997.
The Main House
Rouse Hill House is a large, two-storey Georgian-style house. It sits on top of a ridge, offering views in all directions. The house faces northeast, halfway between Parramatta and Windsor. It has a separate two-storey brick service wing and offices that form an arched courtyard. Inside, there are 22 rooms, a staircase hall, and two cellar rooms. The main house is built of sandstone with a slate roof.
The Historic Garden
The garden at Rouse Hill is likely Australia's oldest surviving colonial garden that is still mostly intact. You can see old borders made of different materials, parts of fences and gates, and even traces of old trellises. These physical clues, along with old photos, drawings, and writings, have helped identify four main stages of the garden's development: around 1825, 1865, 1885, and 1968.
It's very rare in Australia to find such a continuous history of a garden from the early 19th century through to the 20th century. You can see how new technologies changed gardening, like wire fences replacing wooden ones.
Tall, mature Araucaria pines, like the Bunya pine (A. bidwillii) and hoop pine (A. cunninghamii), stand out in the garden.
The Bath House (1858)
This charming building in the garden was likely built by James Houison, a builder and architect from Parramatta. It originally had arched wooden trellises on its verandahs and porches. These trellises supported climbing plants, giving privacy to those using the bathroom. It has tin roofing and stone floors. The bathhouse was restored in 2017.
The Dairy
The dairy's design is similar to a "model dairy" promoted in 1947 by the NSW Department of Agriculture. Model dairies were designed to be very clean and efficient. The Rouse dairy has a row of milking stalls and a "milk house" where the pumping machinery was kept. The floor was made of concrete, which was easy to wash to keep things hygienic. An even older wooden structure with two cow stalls for hand-milking also still exists at Rouse Hill.
Other Buildings
Other buildings on the property include a cow shed made of timber slabs, a brick bath house, a rebuilt timber summer house, and brick stables. There is also a house for the caretaker.
Why Rouse Hill Estate is Important
Rouse Hill Estate is one of the most important and complete historic homes from the Macquarie period (1810-1822). It is the largest and most complete record of a European-Australian family's life and culture. Through its buildings, furniture, objects, and landscape, it shows the tastes and efforts of seven generations from the early 1800s to the late 1900s.
The property is special because it has been continuously lived in by the same family. This means that many parts of the garden and house from every period of its history are still here. This layering of objects and styles is especially clear in the gardens. The garden designs, borders, fences, and paths show how gardening changed in Australia over time.
The garden is likely the oldest surviving colonial garden in NSW that is still mostly intact. The physical evidence in the gardens, combined with old photos and writings, shows four main stages of its development. This continuous history of an early garden is very rare in Australia.
Rouse Hill Estate was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 because it meets several important criteria.
Historical Significance
Rouse Hill Estate is important because it records the Rouse and Terry families' lives over seven generations and 180 years. This history can be seen in the house, its outbuildings, furniture, collections, garden, and surrounding land.
The property is important for:
- Its connection to Richard Rouse, a builder and free settler who was in charge of public works.
- Its connection to the convict period, as convicts were assigned to build and work on the estate.
- Showing the history of tastes and cultural understanding of a certain group of people in New South Wales history.
The property also shows common themes in NSW history. For example, the family's wealth in the 19th century followed by financial difficulties in the 20th century reflects the "Boom and Bust" periods in Australian history.
Locally, it is important for its connection to the people who worked on the property, local shopkeepers, clergy, and school teachers.
Aesthetic Value
Rouse Hill Estate is unique because it shows the artistic tastes of seven generations of one family. The beauty of the place comes from the variety of things you can see: the building, the art, the garden, and the farm surroundings, all connected together.
Community Connection
The family's story represents a group of people who survived tough times in the 1840s to become important in the second half of the 19th century. This includes:
- The family's role as landowners with important business interests.
- Their social importance as pastoralists (sheep/cattle farmers) before 1910.
- The diverse family members, including free settlers, former convicts, farmers, businessmen, and people involved in the military, politics, and engineering.
Research Potential
The property is important because:
- It provides evidence of many building techniques from 1812 to today.
- It has a wide range of services and household equipment from 1812 to today.
- It offers huge research potential for studying building methods, services, and equipment used by one family over time.
Rarity
The garden is important for its design rather than just its plants. It is probably the earliest garden design in NSW that has survived almost unchanged in its overall shape, even though small details have been modified.
Representative Example
The historical relationship of Rouse Hill to other properties owned by the Rouse family shows how settlements developed in NSW. Often, first-generation properties were later added to or replaced by others.
