Experiment Farm Cottage

In 1789 Governor Phillip set up an experiment ‘to know in what time a man might be able to support himself’. The guinea pig was convict James Ruse, who became wholly self-sufficient in two years and was given the colony’s first land grant here as a reward, thereby becoming Australia’s first private farmer. He then sold the land to a surgeon, John Harris, who built this modest cottage in 1793. CityRail Harris Park then 10mins walk/RiverCat Parramatta then 20mins walk. Open 10.30am-3.30pm Tue-Fri; 11am-3.30pm Sat, Sun. Admission $6; $4 reductions; $14 family. Joint admission with Old Government House $10; $7 reductions; $25 family. Credit (over $20) MC, V.