Abercrombie House, Victorian Tudor mansion in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia
Abercrombie House is a two-storey granite mansion with sandstone dressings at the quoins and window surrounds, plus an attic floor. Its most striking feature is a row of curvilinear parapeted gables topped by iron finials. A verandah with posts and decorative brackets runs along the lower level, and an arched entrance porch carries a balustrade with roundels.
Lieutenant Colonel William Stewart received a land grant in Bathurst in 1827, and his eldest son James Horne Stewart built the house in 1878, naming it "The Mount"; construction took eight years. James lived there until his death in 1920, after which his son Athol managed the property. The house stood empty after 1927 and was bought by Rex Morgan in late 1968, who renamed it Abercrombie House and began restoration in 1969.
The house is named after the former Shire of Abercrombie and General Sir Ralph Abercrombie, under whom William Stewart served in the West Indies in the 1790s. Rex Morgan, a three-times nationally honoured educationalist, bought the property in late 1968 on condition that the name be changed from "The Mount". Public heritage tours have run since 1969.
Public heritage tours have run since 1969, and part of the house is open to visitors while the Morgan family still lives on the 20-hectare property. Tours are the only way to see the interior, so book ahead rather than arriving unannounced. The grounds lie off the Great Western Highway approach into Bathurst, and the entrance is through the 1829 Toxteth Park gates.
The entrance gates originally came from a park in Sydney dating to 1829 and were brought here after the park was sold in 1901. These historic gates now form the main entrance to the grounds.
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