Rouse Hill
Estate
Filled with an assortment of belongings and treasures, this house and farm chronicles the changing fortunes of six generations of the one family.
Exterior view of the front door to the Main House at Rouse Hill Estate. North elevation. Photo © James Horan for Sydney Living Museums RHF12_0040
Next open Sunday 11 September
Entry
Free entry
Man, women and child outside house, Rouse Hill .
Looking out over the paddocks and across to the mountains, this house and farm have been owned by six generations of one family. Through the good times and the bad, 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. With its grand stables and prize horses, orchards and elegant summerhouse, Rouse Hill House was once the social hub of the area. And although the estate was later subdivided as the family fortunes waned, the house and its stories still draw people to its door. Today Rouse Hill 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.
Stories from Rouse Hill Estate
1960s psychedelia at Rouse Hill House
In a short experimental period of music making, the talented young John Terry combined radical musical ideas with abstract imagery and the soundscape of Rouse Hill House.
50th anniversary of the death of Nina Terry
Nina Beatrice Terry (1875-1968) was the eldest of the two daughters of Edwin Stephen Rouse and his wife Bessie (nee Buchanan) of Rouse Hill House.
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, originally acquired by Hannah Rouse in the 1870s.
A wayward prince
Investigating a possible imposter seen in a striking photo at Rouse Hill House, Dr Scott Hill uncovered a story of scandal.
Alexander Coles Child
Alexander (Alec or Alex) Coles Child, grandson of an old friend of Bessie Rouse, was a university student and master at Mosman Church of England Preparatory School when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in May 1916.
Ancient traditions, new insights
Since 2015, a series of new events privileges Aboriginal voices and experiences at SLM sites.
Bessie Rouse and the Kellyville-Rouse Hill Red Cross
Eliza Ann Rouse, affectionately known as Bessie, mistress of Rouse Hill House, was in her early seventies when war was declared in August 1914. She had five grandsons, the eldest of whom turned 18 in October 1914. The war would bring much anxiety and sadness to the later years of Bessie’s peaceful rural life on the outskirts of Sydney.
Bessie Rouse’s scrap album & the first Australian Christmas cards
A nineteenth-century scrap album, carefully stored in a bookcase at Rouse Hill House, holds hidden treasure – if you know what you’re looking at.
Bessie’s Studio at Rouse Hill House & Farm
Recently at Rouse Hill House & Farm, we reopened the Studio to visitors, further enhancing the experience of exploring this unique property.
Brushing up on our housekeeping
No chemicals, nothing abrasive, just some elbow grease, an eye for detail, and steady hands.
Charles Beresford Cairnes
Charles Beresford Cairnes was one of a number of members of the extended Rouse family who served with British rather than Australian forces during World War I.
Clive Collingwood Dangar MC
Clive Collingwood Dangar was born on 12 January 1882 at Baroona, near Singleton, NSW, the youngest son of Albert Augustus Dangar (1840–1913) and Mary Phoebe, nee Rouse (1847–1931), and a great-grandson of Richard and Elizabeth Rouse of Rouse Hill House.
Conserving the Arcade
The conservation of the Rouse Hill House arcade is an ongoing process of evaluation and cautious intervention.
Great War stories
Amongst the dog-eared and aging clutter crammed into drawers, cupboards and photo albums of Rouse Hill house are treasured family relics tracing connections between the bloody theatres of World War 1 and life on the farm at home.
John Alexander Claude Kennedy (Jack) Tyson
At the end of October 1915 Kathleen Rouse farewelled family friend Jack Tyson, who was off to Melbourne to enlist. The grazier had agisted stock from his property near Hay on George Terry’s Box Hill during the drought, and was a frequent visitor to both Rouse Hill and Box Hill.
Kathleen Buchanan Rouse
Deeply affected by the news of the death of her fiancé, Norman Pearce, in August 1916 Kathleen Rouse embarked for England on the Tainui with her friend Jill Louche to join the war effort.
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.
Let's go shopping
Do you keep your receipts from your purchases? For a new outfit? The weekly grocery shopping? Repairs to a pair of shoes? Perhaps tucked into your wallet or purse, in a shoebox, under the bed? Easily thrown away or lost, have you ever considered what a record they are of your everyday life?
Lewis Tod Solomons
This photograph of Lewis Tod Solomons, known as Tod, was found in an album owned by Alice Rouse, nee Hayle (1846–1919), wife of William Charles Rouse, which also contains a photograph of his father. The Rouses had a home in North Sydney near the Solomons family.
Magic Lantern at Rouse Hill House
The Rouse Hill House magic lantern is a mid-19th century example of a form of image projector which dates back to the 17th century.
Mary Margaret (Peggy) Manning
During World War I thousands of women joined Voluntary Aid Detachments, whose members were simply known as VADs. Many, trained in first aid and home nursing, worked in hospitals caring for sick and wounded soldiers, but others performed general domestic and clerical tasks or worked as drivers and storekeepers.
Muru Mittigar Education Programs at Rouse Hill House & Farm
A partnership with Aboriginal social enterprise Muru Mittigar is transforming students’ learning experiences.
Nailing history at Rouse Hill House
This man built many of the oldest farm buildings surviving at Rouse Hill and was a close friend of the Rouses. Find out about his tragic ending.
Norman Matthew Pearce
Rouse Hill House contains a number of objects that reveal the close relationships between the families associated with the house and the Pearce family, particularly Norman Pearce and his fiancée, Kathleen Rouse.
Patriotic verse: ‘Wings’ by Eva Manning
In the collection at Rouse Hill House there are four copies of Wings, a little booklet of patriotic verse written by a schoolteacher named Eva Marion Manning.
Preserving our culinary heritage
Autumn is the time when families like the Rouses of Rouse Hill House & Farm preserved the last of the warmer weather’s bounty to enjoy in the months to come.
Putting springs in their place
Our philosophy of maintaining the Rouse Hill House & Farm collection in its timeworn condition poses distinct conservation challenges.
Relax, slow down – and learn
Discover the vision and message behind the 2019 NAIDOC Week event on Sunday 14 July at Rouse Hill House & Farm.
Rouse Hill Estate and the Spanish flu of 1919: A year of contradictions
In 1919, Spanish flu gripped the world. In 2020, as we confront COVID-19, the media headlines and reports from the earlier pandemic are all too familiar.
Rouse Hill recipes
Through most of the nineteenth century, Rouse Hill House was the social hub of the district and the Rouse family regularly played host to many events.
Shrouded House: collection care at Rouse Hill House & Farm
Staff at Sydney Living Museums work tirelessly to ensure that buildings and collections are lovingly cared for, and to secure their longevity.
Songs and scandal uncovered: The Dowling Music Project
In an exciting collaboration between Sydney Living Museums and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, performers from the Historical Performance Unit are bringing to life a previously unknown collection of sheet music which belonged to a young Sydney couple in the 1830s.
The splendid clipper 'Sobraon'
The forlorn hulk of the HMAS Tingira features in several 1930s drawings of Berrys Bay by celebrated artist Lloyd Rees. Presented by Rees as a solitary, romantic figure in the serene harbour landscape, the former luxury clipper has particular resonance not only with Rees, but with one of our properties - Rouse Hill House & Farm - and a prominent colonial family, the Rouses.
The Woolshed: a rude timber building
The Woolshed at Rouse Hill Estate, constructed c. 1858, is an example of the type of ‘rude’ timber farm buildings that can be found throughout rural Australia. These building are usually uncomplicated structures, built using materials readily available and often have a naïve, simple character.
Tracing family connections
Using treasured objects from our collections, we chart the unique relationship between Rouse Hill House (c1813) and Meroogal (1885).
Uncovering the musical treasures of Rouse Hill House & Farm
Nicole Forsyth, a professional viola player and casual lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, is currently researching the Rouse Hill House & Farm sheet music collection for her PhD.
William Knox (Billie) Child
Billie Child was one of the lucky ones. Although he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, he never embarked for overseas service.
‘Here’s luck to the aniseed!’: The Sydney Hunt Club
Seen throughout Rouse Hill House are compelling reminders of how important horses were to the Rouse and Terry families.
The latest at Rouse Hill Estate
Learning
Paintbox from the PastFriday 8 April 2022
The SLM Learning team strive to achieve authenticity in their programs, especially when it comes to the use of historical artefacts and replica objects and sources.
New online
Year in review: 2021Thursday 3 March 2022
Foundation
Sydney Living MuseumsTuesday 1 March 2022
To help us continue our important work, we invite you to support Sydney Living Museums through the Annual Appeal 2022.
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
Uncovering new perspectives from Rouse Hill EstateFriday 5 November 2021
The SLM Learning team have been busy working on a new project in collaboration with curator Dr Scott Hill.
View of the bath house
Exterior view of the bath house, Rouse Hill Estate.
Front door
Front door, Rouse Hill Estate.
Summer house
Summer house, Rouse Hill Estate.
Potting shed
Potting shed and view to south-east over Regional Park, Rouse Hill Estate.
Summer house
View of the summer house, Rouse Hill Estate.
Sitting room
View of the sitting room, Rouse Hill Estate.
Table set to interpret a late 19th century style dinner
Table set to interpret a late 19th century style dinner, dining room, Rouse Hill Estate.
Drawing room
View of the drawing room, Rouse Hill Estate.
Interior of stables
Interior of stables, Rouse Hill Estate.
Interior of stables, looking into stalls
Stables, Rouse Hill Estate.
View towards house from stables
View towards house from stables, Rouse Hill Estate.
View of driveway circle
View of driveway circle, Rouse Hill Estate.
Row of books
Books in the principal bedroom, Rouse Hill Estate.
Front of the house
The house, Rouse Hill Estate.
View through gate
View through gate towards the old schoolhouse, Rouse Hill Estate.
Looking towards the barn
Looking towards the barn at Rouse Hill Estate.
Agricultural machinery
Agricultural machinery, Rouse Hill Estate.
‘ROUSE HILL: Another good concert. On Friday night last the spacious Arcade at Rouse Hill House … was filled to overflowing, and the entertainment proved an excellent one.’ (Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 17 February 1906)