Rouse Hill Estate

A glimpse behind the scaffold – conservation works at Rouse Hill Estate
Digital Content Coordinator Gabriella Florek took an enlightening tour of ongoing conservation works at Rouse Hill Estate to understand some of the finer details of caring for a complex heritage site

The ‘crooked R’
At Rouse Hill Estate, reminders of the property’s rural past are everywhere, from fence lines and machinery to farm buildings and the myriad odds and ends stored inside them

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

Rouse Hill conservation works 2024–25
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

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

Furnishing textiles in Australia: 1850-1920
The Caroline Simpson Library holds numerous examples of textile furnishings provenanced to NSW homes dating back to the 1850s

When masks were compulsory
When thinking about the impact of COVID-19, it’s timely to reflect on an earlier pandemic that affected every aspect of life, including at our places

Keeping cool
Shading the face, fanning a fire into a blaze or cooling food, shooing away insects, conveying social status, even passing discreet romantic messages - the use of the fan goes far beyond the creation of a breeze
