Rouse Hill Estate
Untouched history
Home to six generations of one family through good times and the bad, Rouse Hill Estate and its stories still draw people to its doors. Each generation has added another layer of belongings, improvements and memories, and today, every object and addition, every tear, stain and repair, has a story to tell. The estate also features the restored 1888 Rouse Hill schoolhouse, a section of the original Windsor Road turnpike proclaimed by Governor Macquarie in 1813, and the site of the doomed 1804 ‘Vinegar Hill’ convict rebellion.
Rouse Hill Estate
Dharug Country
356 Annangrove Road, Rouse Hill NSW 2155- Wheelchair accessible
Stories
![The Schoolroom, Rouse Hill House & Farm, June 2004](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2022/11/424ccd290b694a48a83795393c9cc2b5.jpg)
Talk of the town
Six generations of Rouse and Terry families occupied Rouse Hill Estate from its construction in the early 1800s until the late 1990s, when it opened as a museum
![Chenille curtain sunburst design](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2023/03/e026d1495be64c3a9c117d0cd340d156.jpg)
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
![Tents in bush setting.](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2022/12/a4f709a1b4a2450b85d6242b628fb59b.jpg)
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
![](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2022/12/b2b4eca727ac4cba95553ca1bda827d9.jpg)
A Gothic Angel
In the drawing room at Rouse Hill your eye is instantly drawn to a small painting on the far wall; a figure of an angel in a shining gilt frame, acquired in the 1870s.
![](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2023/01/0f325c966fb34eabb6fe371fcbdab541.jpg)
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
Learning programs
Browse all![Students sitting on the hillside, creating a watercolour painting of the view towards the Blue Mountains.](https://images.mhnsw.au/fotoweb/embed/2024/03/22fd8794cae64a46b53b0c926fda2dc2.jpg)
A Colonial Eye
Students investigate the role of artists during the early colonial period and consider how they contributed to the development of the colony
![A student feeds the chickens as part of the Early to Rise program at Rouse Hill Estate](https://images.mhnsw.au/fotoweb/embed/2024/03/0bc4d46a7b9342898f10177ce77a70a9.jpg)
Early to Rise
This Stage 1 History program gives students the opportunity to explore the working areas of the former farm, and investigate what life would have been like for children living there 120 years ago
![Looking towards small cottage across paddocks.](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2022/12/1875096269bf460d93492500896f7637.jpg)
Expanding the Colony
Students explore the former farm and examine a range of sources to learn about the expansion of NSW in the 19th century and investigate its impacts on the environment, the people of the Boorooberongal clan and the colonisers