St Clair, Goulburn, Heritage museum in Goulburn, Australia

St Clair is a split-level colonial villa of solid rendered brick with about 18 rooms over three floor levels, built in stages and completed before 1849. Fluted sandstone columns and red cedar shutters, doors and verandah linings survive, while ceilings and first-floor walls are lath and plaster. Two wings enclose a courtyard, and the lower level nearly duplicates the size of the cottage seen from the street.

The villa was built between 1843 and 1849 and stands as the second-oldest house in Goulburn. James Sinclair, the town's first architect, designed and built it before vanishing mysteriously during the gold rush in 1851.

St Clair served as a guesthouse from about 1900, run by Bridget Bruton and later the McCarthy and Pursehouse families. In 1883 Mrs Emric and her daughters, the Misses Crackenthrope, ran a girls' school there, and in the late 1880s Miss Sharp taught music, piano, organ, harmonium, harp, French and drawing. The Goulburn and District Historical Society now keeps its collection and archive in the house.

St Clair stands at 318 Sloane Street, and the Goulburn and District Historical Society, joined by the Friends of St Clair, keeps its collection and archival research centre there. The house has three floor levels, so expect stairs between the entrance rooms, the lower rooms and the cellars. The 1980s restoration lined over some lath and plaster ceilings and replaced missing plaster with cement render.

Visitors are often surprised to learn that this building served briefly as a school for young ladies in 1883 before returning to private use. This unexpected role shows how flexible properties were adapted to serve the changing needs of growing colonial towns.