Esther’s house reinvented

Teachers note: Download and print Resource 1: Imagined Floorplan of Esther’s House at Annandale Farm.

The building of the house at Annandale Farm for the Johnston family began in 1799, on Wangal land. Esther and George established a substantial farm of over 5,000 acres of land and became a wealthy family. When George was away in England in 1800-1801, Esther supervised the construction.

Examine the three images of Annandale House. There are two paintings and a photograph.

FL8547513

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The house was one of the first large brick buildings in the colony. The timber for the frame was red cedar, and 250,000 red clay bricks were made onsite by convicts. It is described as a cottage of 14 rooms and many fireplaces. It would have had a drawing room (equivalent to a formal lounge room today), a dining room, bedrooms and a cellar. Homes of this era often had small rooms close to the front door for accepting travellers for overnight accommodation. It had a grand hallway, cedar doors and shutters and verandahs on both east and west sides. There was even a powdering room – for powdering your hair!

Discuss the need for verandahs in Australia.

Discuss how the house was heated and cooled.

Imagine that the house is being rebuilt to the original design and is now available for you to decide on its new purpose.

Study the imagined floorplan. The actual floorplan is unknown so we have created one inspired partly by Elizabeth Farm at Parramatta which is a house of a similar era. The floorplan is a birds-eye view of the rooms inside the house. [Download and print Resource 1: Imagined Floorplan of Esther’s House at Annandale Farm.]

Design a new purpose for Esther’s home.

Think about what it could be used for? What do you think Esther would like it to be used for? What could be the purpose for each room? What would Esther think of the changes you have made to her house?