Vaucluse House

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Vaucluse House Sydney

Vaucluse House is a historic estate in Gothic Revival style in the harbourside suburb of Vaucluse in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb takes its name from this house. Vaucluse House is a 19th century estate with house, kitchen wing, stables and outbuildings, surrounded by 28 acres (9 hectares) of formal gardens and grounds. It is managed by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales as a museum that is open to the public.

[edit] History

The original Vaucluse House was built by Sir Henry Brown Hayes, who had been transported to New South Wales in 1802 for kidnapping the daughter of a wealthy Irish banker’s daughter. Governor King considered Hayes "a restless, troublesome character" and was keen to move him 3km away from Sydney. So in 1803 Hayes was granted permission to purchase the land and house, which was originally granted to Thomas Laycock in 1793 and Robert Cardell in 1795. An avid admirer of the 14th century poet Petrarch, Hayes named the house after Petrarch's Fontaine de Vaucluse, the famous spring near the town l'Isle sur la Sorgue in what is today the Department of Vaucluse in the South of France. He built a small but charming cottage and several outbuildings. 50 acres (20 hectares) were cleared for agricultural purposes and several thousand fruit trees were planted, none of which survive. Newspaper accounts describe it as a small but very charming farm. There is some warrant for the story that Hayes surrounded his property with turf from Ireland to keep out the snakes. In 1812 Hayes was pardoned by Governor Macquarie and sailed to Ireland were he lived another 20 years. Ownership of the property became uncertain until it was acquired in 1822 by Captain John Piper.

Vaucluse House Sydney

Finally, in an 1827 auction, William Charles Wentworth (1790-1872), explorer, journalist, barrister, politician and successful entrepreneur, acquired Vaucluse for £1,500. By grant and additional purchases he increased his holdings to 515 acres (208 hectares) . Wentworth and his wife Sara (née Cox), moved to the estate with their growing family in 1828 and carried out major building and ground work throughout the next 25 years of occupancy. Letters show that Wentworth's wife Sara, the daughter of ex-convicts, was an astute manager of the Vaucluse estates. The Wentworth family left for England in 1853, returning only for a brief stint in 1861-62. The Wentworth descendants, while living in England, retained a strong interest in the property until 1900 when the contents of the house were auctioned. In 1911 some 28 acres (9 hectares), including the house and garden, were acquired by the New South Wales Government for use as a public park. In 1920 the house and grounds were opened to the public. Over the years the historic property slowly disappeared beneath a 20th century municipal park. In 1981 the property was transferred to the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales and work started to recreate the original setting of Vaucluse House. Today it is one of the few 19th century houses near the harbour retaining a significant part of its original setting.