Meroogal
Handed down through four generations of women from one local family, Meroogal tells a multitude of stories about the ‘Roogal’ women and the south-coast community in which they lived.

Side of the house facing Worrigee Street, Meroogal, 2008 MER08_0007
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A few blocks from the town centre of Nowra on NSW’s south coast, Meroogal is a rare and precious gem. Barely changed since it was built in the 1880s, the distinctive ‘Carpenter Gothic’ house has been loved and maintained by four generations of Thorburn and Macgregor women through the pleasures and labours of daily life. The house still overflows with their belongings – favourite books and ornaments, furniture, photographs, diaries and journals, newspaper clippings, receipts and recipes, appliances and clothes – and the garden, although reduced from its original size, still provides fruits and fresh produce that hint at their self-sufficiency and hospitality. Meroogal invites us into their lives, and through their private histories draws us into a shared and living past.
The latest at Meroogal
Meroogal Womens Art Prize
Meroogal Women’s Art Prize 2022Monday 4 April 2022
New online
Year in review: 2021Thursday 3 March 2022
School holidays
Summer 2022 opening hoursMonday 6 December 2021
Learning programs return in Term 1Thursday 18 November 2021
We are thrilled to announce bookings are now open for selected onsite learning programs in Term 1, 2022.We look forward to welcoming students and teachers back to our museums and historic houses for our immersive...
Learning
Twilight Teachers’ EventWednesday 17 February 2021

Exterior view
Exterior view of Meroogal and garden

Meroogal 1903 by John Samuel Browning
Meroogal 1903, John Samuel Browning, watercolour on paper. John Samuel Browning (1831-1909) was a friend of the Thorburn family. He was a retired civil servant who had been Commissioner of Crown Lands and Chief Surveyor in Nelson, New Zealand.

In the kitchen
Stove and oven in the kitchen, Meroogal.

View into big balcony bedroom
A view into the big balcony bedroom from the upstairs (first floor) hall, Meroogal.

Exterior, around 1887
Photograph of Meroogal exterior, circa 1887. The man in the bowler hat is Robert Taylor Thorburn and the women are his sisters Belle Thorburn (left) and Tot Thorburn (right).

Front verandah, facing West Street
Front verandah at Meroogal, facing West Street.