STEP back in time to Canberra’s early years with free seniors tours around the region’s historic houses during ACT Seniors Week.
ACT Historic Houses has three open house events in association with Seniors Week at three heritage-listed sites: Lanyon Homestead, Calthorpes’ House and Mugga-Mugga Cottage.
At the foot of the Brindabelle Ranges, Lanyon Homestead is a must-see for anyone looking to experience the settlement history of Canberra and Australia.
Lanyon has a historic homestead and outbuildings within a working rural property. The precinct’s centrepiece, the 1850s homestead, has been beautifully restored and furnished. The grounds are popular for picnics.
Calthorpes’ House in the suburb of Red Hill provides a rare and engaging insight into the domestic life of Australia in the mid-1900s. Built in 1927, this genuine survivor provides a glimpse into an almost forgotten world when the Calthorpe family lived in the house.
Original furnishings, appliances and photos reflect the fashionable ideal of style and taste in the middle class Australian home of the late 1920s.
Mugga-Mugga historic cottage in Symonston stands as testament to the lives of the families who worked on one of the Limestone Plain’s great pastoral estates before Canberra was established.
Settlement on the site began in 1838 and its centerpiece is a simple cottage built for the head shepherd of Duntroon in the 1870s.
The small stone cottage has been conserved and furnished with items that belonged to the Curley family who moved to Mugga-Mugga from Duntroon in 1913.
Join a guided tour introducing the story of the Curley family cottage and pioneer rural workers, followed by a self-serve afternoon tea.
- Lanyon Homestead open house, March 24, 10am-4pm; Calthorpes’ House open house, March 25, 1-4pm; Mugga-Mugga open house, March 26, 1pm, 1.45pm, 2.30pm and 3.15pm. Free for seniors. Phone (02) 6237-6500.
ACT Seniors Week encourages older people to Love Later Life. It runs from March 18-26.
