The oldest residence on the western side of the Blue Mountains is set to reach a major milestone in June, with the 'Macquarie' homestead set to reach 200 years as a continuously occupied residence.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The O'Connell Road homestead, which is believed to have been completed in 1822, was built to accommodate William Lawson, one of the three European settlers who were the first colonists to travel over the Blue Mountains in 1813.
Lawson was granted 1000 acres of land by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, the namesake for the residence, where it is believed Lawson, who was the Commandant of the government stores in Bathurst between 1819 and 1823, arranged the construction of a homestead and convict barracks on the land.
In the last 200 years, the residence has only been under the ownership of three families: the Lawsons, the McKibbins and Paul and Bonny Hennessy, who acquired the property in 2012.
The Hennessys have since spent much of their own money to hire tradespeople and labourers to restore the homestead while they initially resided in the shearers' quarters.
"When we bought the place a decade ago, the homestead was uninhabitable, the rising damp had wreaked havoc, so we lived in the shearers' quarters for three years while the homestead was renovated," Mr Hennessy said.
"With my background in history and Bonny's background as a renovation extraordinaire, we couldn't bear to see this property lost to time.
With my background in history and Bonny's background as a renovation extraordinaire, we couldn't bear to see this property lost to time.
- Paul Hennessy, 'Macquarie' owner
"The bricks were falling off, and we felt the life of the barracks was limited to three or four years [when we acquired the property]."
It is believed Governor Macquarie visited the property in late 1821, with his journal acknowledging a visit to "Lieutenant Lawson's establishment close to the banks of that river on Mitchell's Plains" [Fish River].
"Here we inspected his stock of horses, horned cattle and sheep, all of which are excellent of their respective kinds," the journal noted.
"Lawson accompanied us for a few miles on our way and then returned to his station at Bathurst."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News