Cooma Cottage

On the banks of the Yass River, Cooma Cottage is in the heart of the rich sheep grazing country which attracted pioneers in the early 1820s and 1830s. The original colonial bungalow forms part of the earliest complex of dwellings and stables on the site, as built by pioneering pastoralist, Cornelius O’Brien.

The property is most noted as the home of famous Australian born explorer, Hamilton Hume (1797-1873). It is said that Hume fell in love with the site when camping there in 1824 on his epic overland journey to Port Phillip Bay with another great explorer, William H Hovell. He purchased the cottage and 100 acres in 1839 for ₤600 and, over the next 20 or so years embarked on an enthusiastic and creative process of building extensions, adding his own version of Palladian style wings and a Greek Revival portico.

Cooma Cottage’s principal significance lies in its composition of buildings which form a unique Palladian form often sought but rarely achieved in Australian colonial architecture. It is one of the oldest surviving rural homesteads in the Yass district and southern NSW and a rare surviving example of Colonial architecture in Australia.

Experience early colonial rural lifestyle. The accoutrements of 19th century living including stables containing original tools and harnessing, Georgian furnishings and herb garden.

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