The story of this place
Elizabeth Farm, begun in 1793, is Australia's oldest surviving European building. John and Elizabeth Macarthur built this simple cottage on a land grant, but John spent much of his time in England or facing court martial, leaving Elizabeth to manage the property and their wool business alone. She became one of the colony's most successful entrepreneurs. The house has been modified so many times that little of the original 1793 structure remains visible—but it stands as testament to the Macarthurs' controversial role in founding Australia's wool industry. Elizabeth never returned to England, dying here in 1850 after 62 years in the colony.