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A spectacular refurbishment, new immersive experiences and self-guided audio tour; get closer than ever to the fascinating story of Vaucluse House. Find out more.
Vaucluse, near Sydney Sept' 12 1874 by Frederick Leycester Fisher, 1874.
Vaucluse House is one of Sydney’s few 19th-century mansions still surrounded by its original gardens and wooded grounds. When the towering colonial explorer, barrister and politician William Charles Wentworth bought the house in 1827, it was a single-storey cottage in a secluded valley of partly cleared coastal scrub. In fits and starts over the next five decades, William and his wife Sarah developed Vaucluse into a large and picturesque estate. The grounds were extended and flourished to cover most of the present-day suburb of Vaucluse but the main house of the family’s dreams was left unfinished. In 1915 Vaucluse House became Australia’s first official house museum and continues to entice visitors to its lush and still secluded grounds. In 2015, Vaucluse House celebrated 100 years of being a museum.
The latest at Vaucluse House
School holidays
Summer 2019: school holiday opening hoursTuesday 27 November 2018
Vaucluse House
Update: Vaucluse House arch worksWednesday 21 November 2018
After several weeks of work, the arch into the courtyard at Vaucluse House is in the process of being carefully and methodically reconstructed.
Vaucluse House
Vaucluse House arch works beginFriday 19 October 2018
Essential maintenance work has begun to ensure the longevity of this significant architectural feature of Vaucluse House.
School holidays
Spring School Holidays 2018: opening hoursMonday 17 September 2018
Vaucluse House
Vaucluse House dressed in mourningFriday 31 August 2018
The drawing room at Vaucluse House is dressed in mourning for History Week 2018 – Life & Death.
The gardens and grounds at Vaucluse House are part of a grand and romantic vision of landscape, preserved in Sydney’s best-surviving mid-1800s estate. Discover the splendid pleasure garden, Victorian kitchen garden and idyllic natural setting on the edge of Sydney Harbour.
Stories from Vaucluse House
Absconding with the silver
Former SLM Head curator Scott Carlin explains why we recreated the butler's pantry at Vaucluse House along with a fascinating tale of 'light fingered' servants.
Ancient traditions, new insights
Since 2015, a series of new events privileges Aboriginal voices and experiences at SLM sites.
Back from the brink
Shredding hail and torrential rains decimated the kitchen garden on Vaucluse Estate in late April 2015. While most of the larger trees and fenceline hedges were spared destruction, all but the hardiest plants were smashed to pieces with the main heirloom vegetable beds almost wiped clean.
Eavesdropping on the Wentworths
A new self-guided audio tour is available at Vaucluse House, revealing what it was like to live and work there in the middle years of the 19th century.
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.
Meet Andrei Davidoff
Meet our artist-in-residence Andrei Davidoff, who recently set up his potter's wheel at Vaucluse House and created an intriguing collection of site-inspired ceramic pieces.
My Fathers Were But Strangers Here
William Charles Wentworth was a nineteenth century hero in a land still described by twentieth century commentators as possessing no heroes. Wentworth's stature amongst his contemporaries is especially evident in the powerful public reaction to news of his death in England on 20 March 1872.
Putting Wentworth to rest
Eerie Edward Champion describes the massive public funeral of William Charles Wentworth and explains why Sydney-siders mourned in such unprecedented scale.
Resisting the water exemptions
Many people have made the mistake of creating water dependent gardens by relying on timed irrigation systems that do not allow their plants to adjust to the harsh conditions prevalent in many parts of Australia. Find out how we beat the water restrictions at Vaucluse House.
Reviving Vaucluse House
Curator Jo Nicholas writes about two significant projects that have come to fruition at Vaucluse House: The drawing room refurbishment that has drawn upon authentic sources and traditional trades, and the redesigned orientation room, enhancing visitors’ understanding of the site’s complex history.
The dream tree: Jacaranda, Sydney icon
Every November, jacarandas rain a shower of purple on Sydney’s streets. This gorgeous flowering tree has such a firm hold on the city and its imagination that few of us could imagine it any other way. But the Brazilian native was once considered as rare as it was beautiful.
The leprechaun in the garden
Published for St Patrick’s Day in 1911, ‘The Goblin of Vaucluse’ is an intriguing evocation of the garden at Vaucluse House at the turn of the 20th century.
The wisteria at Vaucluse House
The wisteria at Vaucluse House was once famed as one of Sydney’s finest springtime sights.
Vaucluse House: a brief history
To visit Vaucluse House is to be immersed in the stories and experiences of the remarkable Wentworth family, whose 'romantically hidden' estate and home shaped much of their lives.
Who's that girl?
Gazing across the drawing room at Vaucluse House, and in countless 19th century interiors around the world, is this bust of a young woman emerging from a flower or a circle of leaves. But who is she?
Some of those who gathered for William Charles Wentworth’s funeral in 1873 imagined that one day the mausoleum at Vaucluse House would become a place of pilgrimage for Australians. Find out why.