Standing in 260 acres of parkland overlooking historic Parramatta, Old Government House is Australia’s oldest public building. For seven decades, it was the ‘country’ residence of 12 early governors of the colony, including Governor and Mrs Macquarie who, from 1810 to 1821 preferred the clean air and space of rural Parramatta to the unsanitary and crime ridden streets of Sydney Town. The central block of the house was built in 1799 by Governor John Hunter, however the appearance of the house today owes most to Governor and Mrs Macquarie. Their 1815 extensions   transformed the house into an elegant Palladian style residence in the English manner. The main rooms of the house have been recreated to the tastes and styles of Mrs Macquarie, influenced as they were by distance and a climate very different to ‘home’.  The rear yard once was a tennis court. Old Government House was built on Darug land, home to the Burramatta tribe. There is evidence of their occupation on the site; the firestick management of land and trees which still bear the scars of bark stripped to build canoes. In Old Government House, you can see how shells from Aboriginal middens were used to strengthen household mortar. Also located on the site is a wonderful restaurant looking directly onto the house.  
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