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
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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In line with recent NSW Government announcements, all Sydney Living Museums properties will close to the public from Saturday 26 June until Friday 2 July (inclusive) to help protect the health of all visitors and staff and minimise the spread of COVID-19. For more information visit our COVID update page.
Thorburn family at Meroogal, 13 January 1891.
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
Media release
Meroogal Women’s Art Prize 2020 Winners’ AnnouncementWednesday 23 September 2020
The Meroogal Women’s Art Prize celebrates the creativity of female artists in NSW. The 2020 Winners were announced at a modest event at the Meroogal house museum.
Meroogal Women's Art Prize updateWednesday 3 June 2020
Meroogal
Meroogal Women's Art Prize 2020 entries now openTuesday 7 April 2020
International Women's Day
Women's stories, women's livesFriday 6 March 2020
Meroogal Womens Art Prize
People's Choice announced for Meroogal Women's Art PrizeMonday 11 March 2019
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.