Surrounded by 200-year-old camphor laurels and English oaks, this historic cottage was built in 1824 for the Macarthurs’ daughter’s governess and was later used as weekend lodgings. It narrowly escaped being flattened to make way for a car park in the 1980s. Nowadays it houses a small museum dedicated to its owners and occupants.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Sydney attractions

1. Experiment Farm Cottage

0.15 MILES

This colonial bungalow stands on the site of Australia's first official land grant. In 1789 Governor Phillip allocated 12 hectares to emancipated convict…

2. Elizabeth Farm

0.25 MILES

Elizabeth Farm contains part of Australia’s oldest surviving colonial building (1793), built by renegade pastoralist and rum trader John Macarthur…

3. Parramatta Square

0.59 MILES

This $2 billion project is the centrepiece of Parramatta's major redevelopment and features office towers, a university campus and public space, built to…

4. Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

0.68 MILES

One of the key pieces of Parramatta's riverside development will be this museum, which will move much of the collection of the current Powerhouse Museum…

5. St John’s Cemetery

0.92 MILES

Australia's oldest colonial cemetery, these open lawns are the resting place of many an early settler. There's a map at the entrance gate with some…

6. Old Government House

1.09 MILES

The country residence of the early governors, this elegant Georgian Palladian building in Parramatta Park is now a preciously maintained museum furnished…

7. Parramatta Park

1.25 MILES

This 85-hectare riverside park has a democratic feel as locals descend on it to run, laze, picnic or go to a concert or other events. The site of…

8. ANZ Stadium

3.42 MILES

The former Stadium Australia was custom-built for the 2000 Olympics. It could originally accommodate 110,000 people, but following the games its capacity…