Vaucluse House

The Vaucluse Estate, located on Cadigal land, comprises the land granted to Thomas Laycock in 1793, being ; granted to Robert Cardell in 1795; granted to Francis MacGlynn; and granted to William Wentworth. Governor King considered Hayes "a restless, troublesome character" and was keen to move him 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. were cleared for agriculture 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 where he lived another 20 years. Ownership of the property became uncertain until it was acquired in 1822 by Captain John Piper. "It was then a mere waste of land until Sir Henry Hayes built a dwelling house upon it and cultivated a garden". This is how one observer described the Vaucluse improvements soon after Sir Henry Browne Hayes acquired in this isolated spot of Port Jackson. Naming the property after the village of Vaucluse in the south of France, he built a small cottage and in 1803 set about transforming his "mere waste of land", building two huts and outbuildings, clearing for agricultural uses and planting several thousand fruit trees. None of these survive. Hayes left the colony in 1812, his estate was bought by Captain John Piper in 1822, the newspapers describing it as "a small farm". In 1867, a very dry year for Sydney, the fire brigade was called to a fire at Vaucluse House: at this time the estate was said to be in the care of Wentworth's servants. Fire just penetrated the garden but the brigade prevented it reaching the house or destroying the garden. The pictorial material available for this period, including the Woollahra Municipal Council plan by Higginbotham and Robinson (1889) which shows the fence pattern, outbuildings and entry road, gives a clear picture of the layout of the period. The sketch from the "Town and Country Journal" (1873) shows a well-established front shrubbery, fountain and a large Araucaria in the front lawn. The entry drive is shown with young plants at regular intervals—possibly an avenue or the beginnings of a hedge. To the east of the drive is a clump of giant bamboo. Rebecca Martens' views of 1869 placed close to the photographs of the same view clearly show the character of the estate. Her view of the front of the residence shows a curving drive, front shrubbery and two dominant Araucarias. The side view of the eastern area outside the kitchen, shows the Norfolk Island hibiscus (Lagunaria patersonia) tree nearly as tall as the two storey building. A small tree outside the kitchen is probably the existing Illawarra flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolium). Banana plants are also seen outside the kitchen and the carriage loop is less manicured than its present appearance. The iron estate fencing, seen later in this area and shown on the 1889 Higginbotham and Robinson plan, does not appear in the sketch. It appears that the drive and pasture areas were fenced earlier and the fencing around the house came later. From the late 1870s the house was occupied by family, friends or caretakers. Wentworth died in England in 1872 and a public funeral was held in Sydney in 1873. Sarah and one of her daughters took up residence at Vaucluse during the slow completion of the Mausoleum in Chapel Road, returning to England in 1875 to visit family. Sarah only returned to Australia briefly. Even after William's death in 1872, Sarah and unmarried daughter Eliza continued an active lifelong interest in the property, even from abroad. Further additions and alterations were made in the period up until 1966. In 1968 responsibility for the house and grounds was transferred to the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service when it was declared a historic site under the National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1967. Over 200 indigenous trees were replanted and refurbishment of the house interiors was announced in 1978. The Trustees maintained their position until 1980 when the property became the responsibility of the Historic Houses Trust of NSW. to recover a partial view from the house to Vaucluse Bay—this included some casuarinas. A number of seed-saving organisations provided old varieties and in many cases also gave the date on which these were first introduced into Australia. The Diggers Club in Victoria and Eden Seeds in NSW supplied as many as 33 varieties of vegetable seed listed in early catalogues. In autumn 2017 the works are almost completed, including the drawing room and the orientation rooms. The orientation room is being redesigned to enhance visitors' understanding of the site's complex history. The results will be unveiled in April 2017. This is a display, orientation and rest area for visitors. The ground floor room, which may have been Wentworth's estate office, has been redesigned to share stories of the site, from its enduring Aboriginal connections, its ownership by Sir Henry Browne Hayes and occupation by the Wentworth family to its transfer into public ownership and creation of a museum, including the important role played by Sydney Living Museums. The multi-layered display is a mix of bespoke joinery, interpretive panels and audiovisual components. ==Features==

Ground floor • KITCHEN The kitchen is at the centre of the large two-storey service wing, constructed in 1829. As in most colonial houses, the service wing was a separate building to distance the risk of fire from the main house. Here the cook and her staff prepared all meals for family, guests and servants. The dresser, food safe and cast iron cooking range are original. • SCULLERY The scullery is where washing up was done. Dirty water was emptied into the slop drain. • DAIRY AND LARDER The dairy (for milk, butter and cheese preparation) and larder (for food storage) reflect the operation of Vaucluse as a self-sufficient colonial estate. • CELLARS The two-roomed cellars were used for the cool storage of food and wine. The inner room retains its arched brick bins for bottled wine while hooks for hanging salted and cured meats survive on the original lath and plaster ceilings. • HOUSEKEEPER’S ROOM The housekeeper's room was the centre of domestic operations. The housekeeper was responsible for linen and the supervision of female domestic servants. • BUTLER’S PANTRY The pantry was an office strategically located for the head of the household staff to oversee activities in the house and arrivals at the property. Here lamps were cleaned, refuelled and wicks trimmed; and china, glass and silverware cleaned polished and stored. • FAMILY HISTORY ROOM In 1900 this room was used as a library. Today it houses an exhibition of the Wentworth family's history. • BREAKFAST ROOM The breakfast room is in part of the house built from 1837 to 1840. Most large colonial houses had a second dining room for informal family use. The decorative paint scheme by the firm Lyon, Cottier & Co dates from the 1880s while the carved oak furniture was purchased by Fitzwilliam Wentworth in England in c1872. • DINING ROOM The dining room is hung with family portraits in keeping with early 19th-century practice. The oak furniture belonged to the Wentworth family. The fine Gothic Revival sideboard and cupboards date from c1845 while the dining table and chairs (with their embossed Spanish leather upholstery) may have been part of a consignment of furniture sent from Europe in 1859. The floor of mid-19th century Italian glazed tiles is unusual and possibly a concession to the Australian climate. The chimney piece is of marble from Marulan in southern New South Wales. • LITTLE TEA ROOM The little tea room's joinery suggests that it was one of Wentworth's first additions to the house after 1828. It has been furnished to reflect its use as a small informal sitting room. Cool in summer, with French doors opening onto the eastern verandah, in winter the room's small size ensured it was easily heated. • DRAWING ROOM The drawing room was formed partly within the walls of Sir Henry Browne Hayes original stone cottage and completed in 1847. The floral wallpaper border, plaster cornice, Italian marble fire surround and cast iron grate are all original. The drawing room was intended as a setting for potential suitors to meet the Wentworth daughters, owing to Sarah Wentworth's social isolation. By 1853 when the original contents were sold before the Wentworth family's departure for Europe, the room contained furniture in Brazilian rosewood with crimson damask upholstery. Today the room contains a collection of copies of old master paintings acquired by the Wentworth family in Italy, including copies of Flora after Titian, a Penitent Magdalene after Guido Reni and a Madonna and Child after Murillo. First floor • SECOND ROOM The second room, as it was called in 1853, was a private family sitting room. The fireplace and grate are original. Furniture has been acquired based on an 1853 inventory of the house. • PRINCIPAL BEDROOM In 1853 the principal bedroom contained a winged wardrobe, chest of drawers and marble washstand. The four-post bed has been hung with a reproduction of a glazed chintz c1860 known to have been used in another Gothic Revival house, Greenoaks at Darling Point. The bed has the typical arrangement of three mattresses filled with straw, horsehair and feathers (bottom to top). • FITZWILLIAM’S ROOM IN THE HALL Vaucluse House was left incomplete in the mid-1840s and the large open upper hall was partitioned by cupboards to create a bedroom for Wentworth's second son, Fitzwilliam. Second floor • CHILDREN’S ROOM The nursery was probably used for the four youngest Wentworth children aged between five and 12 years in 1853. The room is furnished as a typical children's room of the mid-19th century with children's furniture and toys. The metal beds are hung with gauze mosquito nets. • MISS WENTWORTH’S ROOM Miss Wentworth's room was named for the eldest unmarried Wentworth daughter. In 1853 it was shared by Sarah Eleanor and Eliza Sophia Wentworth. == Description ==

Grounds / Estate Major characteristics of the grounds were the distinct precincts, or zones, within which specific uses occurred, varying types of maintenance applied to separate zones, dominant plants found in the grounds, detailing characteristic of the period, and the rural character of the surroundings. North of the house and flanking the western side of the shrubbery to the creek are a large number of tall mature palms and emergent trees, including Lord Howe Island palms (Kentia fosteriana), bangalow/piccabeen palms (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana), cabbage tree palms (Livistona australis), Californian desert/fan palms (Washingtonia robusta), native frangipani (Hymenosporum flavum), soft tree ferns (Cyathea sp.), Bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii), hoop pine (A.cunninghamii). Camellia japonica cv.s, azaleas (Rhododendron indicum cv's), Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata), Wisteria sinensis, (introduced into Sydney by Alexander Macleay at Elizabeth Bay) It has crenellated parapets, turrets and iron verandah posts. The verandah returns on three sides of the bay windowed front which has French windows with louvered shutters. The rear wings enclose a small courtyard, most windows being 12 pane type and doors of six panels. The roofs are slate and galvanised iron. • 2000kitchen garden re-created west of the creek, based on 19th century documentary and garden practise research, in an area adjacent to the wash house, across from the service courtyard of the house, and a small part of the original grid of orchards, vegetable plots and vineyard (since lost to carpark and lawns in north-western corner of current estate). == Heritage listing ==

As at 31 May 2000, Vaucluse House was one of the few 19th century houses on Sydney Harbour retaining a significant part of its original estate setting. One distinguishing surviving characteristic of the 19th century estate is its careful division into specific areas, both functional and ornamental, such as pleasure garden, kitchen garden, rear service yard, paddocks, carriageway, creek, estate backdrop, beach paddock. Vaucluse House is significant because of its association with the Wentworth family and their aspirations. It has a large collection of surviving original documentary evidence relating to the house, its contents and occupants. There are a number of extant buildings and gardens and the house retains relative intactness of form, interior space and detailing predating 1900. Vaucluse House was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales. Vaucluse House was the family home of William Charles and Sarah Wentworth and their family, mainly from 1827 to 1853, and as such reflects the aspirations of a prominent political figure in mid 19th century NSW. It was during this period that Wentworth was arguably at his most prominent and influential in Australian society. It is Australia's first "House Museum", an important example of rare and forward thinking, public "preservation" and recreational planning of the early 20th century. With its family provenanced collection it demonstrates the way of life of the Wentworths, their taste incorporated with the taste of their time, social standing and status. The property, but particularly the house, reflects a statement of where the Wentworths aspired to be, as opposed to where they were placed because of their family history (perception of Sarah and William Charles Wentworth's family convict origins by Sydney society). Extant buildings offer both "master and servant' perspectives on mid 19th century life. The financial effects of the 1849s depression in Australia are apparent through the incompleteness of the building. The building is an example of English Gothic Romanticism in Australia and reflects the aspirations of the Wentworths in asserting their social status. The Vaucluse Site is significant because it is an example of a designed "Picturesque" landscape, including fountain and shrubbery, of the colonial period belonging to a prominent colonial family; it contains remnants and features of a "gardened site" begun in 1804 and shows the development of gardening styles, taste and necessity over fifty years; and it has strong association with the Wentworth family such as the Mausoleum and Greycliffe House. The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. The Vaucluse Site is significant because it provides the opportunity to demonstrate the architectural and functional interdependence of house, estate buildings and landscape setting in a colonial rural estate and therefore enables an understanding of the social and cultural values of the owners and their period. It provides an appropriately scaled setting for an important historic house. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The Vaucluse Site is significant because the grounds, including the Beach Paddock, Tearooms and South Paddock stairs have provided a significant community recreational facility developed by Trustees for local residents and visitors since 1910. The grounds have provided work for the local community since the early 19th century and reflected major social changes such as the 1930s depression. It provides extensive free access to the waterfront. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The house is significant because of the large surviving collection of original documentary evidence pertaining to the house, its occupants and the existence of provenanced objects. The Vaucluse Site is significant because: The garden contains remnants of some native plantings now established, such as a c.1950 Norfolk Island Hibiscus and a c.1859 Port jackson Fig. The Olola Avenue perimeter retains remnants of the indigenous vegetation. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The house is a rare example of a 19th-century marine villa with some extant buildings. The garden is a rare extant example of a garden belonging to a 19th-century mansion adjacent to the harbour which has not been entirely subdivided and which substantial == See also ==