Experiment Farm Cottage - National Trust of Australia NSW

y Surgeon John Harris, who purchased the land from Ruse in 1793 for £ 40. It is one of Australia’s oldest standing properties and features in an 1837 sketch and subsequent watercolour by Conrad Martens. The house is furnished to reflect the home of Surgeon Harris, with simple but elegant pieces from National Trust’s collection of early colonial furniture, the largest of its kind in Australia. In the year 2000, the National Trust landscaped and planted the immediate grounds, using evidence from early paintings, plant catalogues and photographs to recreate, as far as possible, an authentic setting for the cottage. Guided tours are available, and a permanent display in the cellar tells the story of the site in all phases of its occupation; Indigenous and colonial to the present day.