Caroline Simpson Library

A specialised resource centre

The Caroline Simpson Library is a specialised research library open to anyone with an interest in the history of house and garden design, interior furnishings and domestic life in NSW. Its collection features a wide range of formats, including architectural pattern books, architectural fragments, wall and floor coverings, trade catalogues and sample books, garden ornaments, hardware and fittings, soft furnishings and trimmings, personal papers, manuscripts, pictures, photographs, books, periodicals and oral histories.

Current display

Turanville near Scone, property of Thomas Cook Esq.: a view of the grounds from the front of the house, Joseph Check, 1889
Featured display

Home in the Hunter

A look at the changing fortunes of pastoral estates of the Hunter Region

The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000. Phone +61 2 8239 2233

Caroline Simpson Library

The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000. Phone +61 2 8239 2233
  • Cafe
  • Wheelchair accessible
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Stories

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A chair with curved timber arms that bend to become legs with a white abolstered seat.

An extraordinary collection

The Caroline Simpson Collection has become Australia’s leading source of information on the history of houses, interiors, furnishings, gardens and domestic life

Detail of the four poster bed and beaded watch pockets in the Principal bedroom, Vaucluse House

Watch pockets

Watch pockets hung on the head cloth of a four-post bedstead and originally served in place of bedside tables, which were uncommon in the 19th century

Acquisition of the John and Phyllis Murphy wallpaper collection

Wall to wall: a marvellous wallpaper collection

A remarkable donation of over 3000 wallpaper samples by John and Phyllis Murphy adds to our existing collection to form Australia’s largest repository of historic wallpapers

'Kioto', a house on the Belltrees estate, Scone, 1893

Home in the Hunter

The Hunter Region is the traditional home of the Wonnarua people. The first European settlers arrived in the 1820s, mainly squatters who claimed large areas of land on which to graze sheep

Two women on the steps of a sandstone building. One is crouching and holding a wooden tool, an axe rests beside her. The other and one sits on the step at a easel, under an umbrella

Queering the Interior: London, New York, Sydney, 1882–1929

Design practices of five figures from queer history: Irish playwright and poet Oscar Wilde, American actress and interior designer Elsie de Wolfe, and Australian artists Eirene Mort, Roy de Maistre and Adrian Feint (1894–1971)

Find out more about our collection

Woodgraining tools, rollers, stamps, combs

Caroline Simpson Collection

Home and garden design, history and life

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