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Hambledon Cottage
Hambledon Cottage
This picturesque cottage orné was a second home for the Macarthur household
About the building
Hambledon Cottage was built in 1824 when colonist and pastoralist John Macarthur commissioned a second home on his Elizabeth Farm estate to provide extra accommodation for the family’s growing household and their visitors. Combining the picturesque qualities of a rural retreat with decorative architectural detailing and a composed garden setting, the cottage orné reflects how wealthy colonial families tried to re-create English ideals in an Australian landscape.
Architect Henry Kitchen designed the single-storey Georgian residence in 1820, with French windows opening to a broad verandah. After Kitchen’s untimely death in 1822, draughtsman Henry Cooper completed the plans for the house. It was built by mostly convict labourers, using locally made sandstock bricks. Inside, it has sophisticated Australian red cedar joinery; some of the internal ceilings and walls are of lath and plaster; and one bedroom still retains its original ironbark flooring. The kitchen block was added around 1832 and the coach-house in the 1880s. In the cottage orné tradition, the garden was carefully designed to create a picturesque relationship between the architecture and landscape.
Members of the Macarthur household and family lived in Hambledon Cottage throughout the 19th century, and it hosted an array of guests that included many eminent public figures. It was first sold in 1881 and then again in 1883. After being home to several families, the cottage was threatened with demolition in the mid-20th century to make room for proposed factories. Public concern and council intervention prevented its destruction, and since 1965 it has been under the care of the Parramatta and District Historical Society.
Hambledon Cottage contains authentic furniture from the 19th century, including an 1836 Broadwood square piano, to provide a real sense of how living in this period looked. The grounds also feature some of Australia’s oldest known planted trees, including a bunya pine dating back to 1850 and a cork tree planted around 1817.
Talks, tours and more
Built
1824
Architect
Henry Kitchen
Alterations
Henry Cooper
Awards
Museums & Galleries of NSW IMAGinE Awards – Winner, Innovation & Resilience, Projects with a budget of $10,000 or less, 2021 (website and virtual reality tour)
Acknowledgements
The participation of Hambledon Cottage has been made possible by Parramatta and District Historical Society
Find out more about this building here
Hambledon Cottage
63 Hassall Street, Parramatta (corner Gregory Place)
Entry details
ttendees will have access to Hambledon Cottage Museum without the standard admission fee
10am–4pm
3.45pm
Talks, tours and more
Need to know
Accessible featuresThere is one step entry into the cottage. Car parking onsite or in Gregory Place
Toilets availableAccessible toilets
Photography allowedNo flash photography
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