Saumarez Homestead

Saumarez Homestead

The main building at Saumarez Homestead
General information
Type Mansion
Architectural style Edwardian
Location New South Wales
Address 230 Saumarez Rd, Armidale NSW 2350
Coordinates 30°32′24″S 151°35′22″E / 30.540089°S 151.589373°E / -30.540089; 151.589373Coordinates: 30°32′24″S 151°35′22″E / 30.540089°S 151.589373°E / -30.540089; 151.589373
Owner National Trust of Australia (Trustee)
Website
http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/nsw/SaumarezHomestead

Saumarez Homestead is a property located in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. The property consists of 10 hectares of land and includes a fully furnished 30-room Edwardian era house. There are 15 other buildings, along with collections of farming equipment and other items. Saumarez Homestead is maintained by the National Trust of Australia[1] and is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register.[2] It is open to the public as a museum, and can be rented for weddings and other functions. Saumarez Homestead has also been a venue for events such as a film festival[3] and fashion shows.[4]

Origins

The Saumarez property, on which Saumarez Homestead was built, was placed in the responsibility of Colonel Henry Dumaresq, who was Commissioner of the Australian Agricultural Company. Dumaresq chose the property's name, which originates from the Channel Islands. It was the first European land settlement near present-day Armidale. Dumaresq's head station was founded at Saumarez, which at the time was 40,000 hectares for which a £10 licence was held from 1837. When Dumaresq died in 1838, Saumarez was inherited by his widow. By 1846 the property had been reduced to 32,000 hectares, held 15,000 sheep, 1,600 cattle and was staffed by a team of 24 men. The Dumaresq family built huts and slab houses, a store, woodshed and wash pool, as well as small paddocks to grow wheat and oats. The property was sold to Henry Arding Thomas in 1856. Thomas sold the property to Francis White in 1874, by which time it had been reduced to 8,000 hectares. The White family still owns the Suamarez property, which is now 3,000 hectares, though they subdivided the 10 hectare area comprising Saumarez Homestead and donated it to the National Trust of Australia in 1984.[5]

Francis' son, Francis John (F.J.) White, completed construction of what is now the main Saumarez Homestead building in May 1888. It was originally single-storey and was made from bricks that were baked on the property. He contacted the building's original architect, J.W. Pender, in 1905 and asked him to build a second-storey onto the original building. The second-storey was completed in 1906. The house is presented today largely unchanged from how it was when it was completed.[5]

Property

The main house features 30 rooms and includes all its original furnishings.[2] The property contains approximately 6500 household collections items, and a further 3500 pieces of farming equipment and collection items.[2] The 15 other buildings on the property date from 1880[5] up until 1910.[2] The buildings include a cottage, a milking shed, stables, horse yards, a blacksmith's shop and a slaughterhouse. The nearby garden includes a greenhouse, aviary[5] and picking garden.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Saumarez Homestead". National Trust of Australia. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Saumarez Homestead". NSW State Heritage Register. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Nugent, Victoria (10 December 2012). "Big names join film festival". The Armidale Express. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Nugent, Victoria (19 February 2014). "Fleeced: City loses wool awards". The Armidale Express. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Saumarez Homestead. Sydney: National Trust of Australia. February 1986. ISBN 0909723737.
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