Elizabeth Farm - History

History

Having arrived in the dismal prison colony of Sydney three years earlier, the young soldier John Macarthur and his wife Elizabeth, both 25, were eager to house their growing family. From nine births, seven children grew to adulthood. In coming decades, the Macarthurs' trading and farming interests, along with John’s political ambitions and affairs, came to dominate colonial society. Elizabeth, not always content, remained in Australia for the rest of her life, while John returned twice to England forging contacts and patronage and directing his sons’ education. Above all, John Macarthur’s success in both developing and promoting the lucrative colonial trade in wool has stamped Elizabeth Farm on the national consciousness.

Changes in the architecture of Elizabeth Farm mirrored the growing prosperity and influence of a powerful colonial family in the early decades of the 19th century. John Macarthur's taste for classical design is revealed in sophisticated joinery, plasterwork, furniture and finishes. His preference for a broad roofed, shady bungalow, rather than two-storey mansion, suggests trading and military connections with India, Asia and America along with an uncommon appreciation of the temperate antipodean climate. A century later, this building form would reappear as the iconic Australian homestead.

Renovations came to a halt as Macarthur's mental health deteriorated. Following his death in 1834, Elizabeth Macarthur occupied the unfinished house until her death in 1850. Sold in 1883 for subdivision and redevelopment, the estate passed through various owners until 1904 when, greatly reduced in size, the near derelict Elizabeth Farm was purchased by William and Elizabeth Swann and their large family. Under public ownership from the late 1960s, the house was finally opened for viewing in 1984 under the care of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales.