Vaucluse House

First published on 1 Jul 2008. Updated on 11 Mar 2010.

The oldest ‘house museum’ in Australia nestles prettily in a moated 19th-century estate, surrounded by ten hectares (28 acres) of prime land, with its own sheltered beach on Vaucluse Bay. From 1827-53 and 1861-62 this was the opulent home of William Charles Wentworth. The house originally stood in a much larger estate, and 26 servants were required to look after the master’s seven daughters and three sons, not to mention his vineyards, orchards and beloved racehorses. The Historic Homes Trust has endeavoured to keep the place as it was when the Wentworths were in residence. In the kitchen a fire burns in the large grate and hefty copper pans line the walls; a tin bath, taken on European travels, still displays its sticker from London’s Victoria Station; the drawing room is sumptuously furnished, and has a door that hides a secret (just ask a guide to open it for you).
Image credit: Vaucluse House. Photograph (c) Brett Boardman Historic Houses Trust.