A visit to Calthorpes’ House will take you back to the time when the Calthorpe Family lived in the house.

Original furnishings, household appliances and photos reflect the fashionable ideal of style and taste in the middle class Australian home of the late 1920s.

Calthorpes’ House offers a range of popular community programs and learning programs throughout the year.

Admission to Calthorpes’ House includes a tour with our guides featuring images of otherwise inaccessible areas of the house using our new Digital Guide. The Guide is also available to download via iTunes to browse at home before or after your visit. Due to COVID restrictions, tours of Calthorpes’ House are garden only tours, and do not go inside the house at this present time. When you book a tour, we give you a free ticket for a house tour, when restrictions ease. Bookings through Eventbrite are encouraged.

You can also experience the house online via our Google Cultural Institute page.

Read more about Calthorpes’ House here...

In 2017, Calthorpes’ House celebrated its 90th Birthday. Along with the usual festivities, a small film was produced to provide a glimpse into the life of the Calthorpes’ family as told by Dawn Waterhouse, nee Calthorpe. Dawn fondly recalls her time growing up in the family home, playing with the neighbourhood children in their garden, cooking potatoes in their Cubby House stove and climbing trees in their back yard, Red Hill. Horse rides, drain pipes, mud pies and dress ups were the norm for Dawn who laments how different childhood games were to many of the games (or devices) played today.

This production was funded through the generous support of Ms Louise Douglas, Chair, Cultural Facilities Board. Thanks also to Alex Sloan, former ABC journalist and Board member, for her time and expertise in interviewing Mrs Waterhouse.