Elizabeth Bay
House
Built at 'very considerable expense', Elizabeth Bay House was once the finest house in the colony, set within a garden of the most remarkable extravagance and fancy. Yet it tells a familiar Sydney story: of ambition and passion, of riches to ruin.

Elizabeth Bay House. Photograph © Nicholas Watt for Sydney Living Museums
Entry
Adult | $15
Concession | $12
Family* | $38
Members | Free of charge
Children under 5 years | Free of charge
*2 adults & 2 children or 1 adult & 3 children
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With commanding views over Sydney Harbour, Elizabeth Bay House gleams like a Greek temple. Once surrounded by famous landscaped gardens, it is one of the most splendid private houses ever built in Australia and still arouses our delight and astonishment. Its elegant rooms and fine proportions, sweeping staircase and lavish furnishings reveal the tastes and aspirations of its original owner, Alexander Macleay, after the governor, the most important public official in colonial Sydney. But it was his magnificent gardens which most keenly expressed his tastes and passions, and in the economic downturn of the 1840s pushed him towards ruin. Elizabeth Bay House is an iconic Sydney home, with an iconic Sydney back-story of obsession for property and position stretched beyond means and undone by changing financial times.
The latest at Elizabeth Bay House
Students reimagine Elizabeth Bay HouseTuesday 25 June 2019
Elizabeth Bay House
Winter Solstice event shining successTuesday 25 June 2019
School holidays
Summer 2019: school holiday opening hoursTuesday 27 November 2018
Support us
Bel canto at Elizabeth Bay HouseThursday 30 August 2018
Elizabeth Bay House
Winter Warmers at Elizabeth Bay HouseWednesday 30 May 2018
It’s that time of year again! As winter rolls in at the end of this week, our curators are busily about the business of ‘wintering’ our houses.

Cellar
Vaulted ceiling and shelves in underground wine cellar, Elizabeth Bay House.

Reception area
Visitor Interpretation Officer Diana Bates with a visitor and baby girl in the entrance hall, Elizabeth Bay House

Front facade, Onslow Avenue.
The impressive facade of Elizabeth Bay House.

Butterfly specimens
Butterfly specimens on display in the library, Elizabeth Bay House

Drawing Room
The Drawing Room at Elizabeth Bay House. The room is in its summer mode, with the fire tools and grate removed, plants arranged across the hearth and furniture reoriented.

Library
View of the library, Elizabeth Bay House.

Dome in the saloon
Dome in the saloon, Elizabeth Bay House .

The breakfast room
Curtains and french doors in the breakfast room, Elizabeth Bay House.

Morning room
Sofa in the morning room, Elizabeth Bay House.