Brush Farm House was built circa 1820 by Gregory Blaxland, following his purchase of the Brush Farm Estate in 1807. It is not only one of Australia's oldest houses but also one of the most substantial houses surviving from the Macquarie period. Brush Farm House represents a nationally important site where some of the colony's initial land grants were made. Brush Farm House stands on part of a grant made to Zadoc Petit of 25 acres in 1794.
Between 1831 and 1880 Brush Farm House and the Estate was owned by the Forster family, which included the one time premier of NSW, William Forster who entered the colonial legislature in 1853 and served in 9 of the 10 parliaments until his death in 1882, including his premiership from 1856-1860. He also served as Colonial Treasurer from 1863 - 1865. From 1881 the house was the residence of John Bennett a noted theatrical entrepreneur of the mid-nineteenth century who, through his interest in horse racing, founded and developed the Rose Hill Racecourse.
Brush Farm House is also the birth place of Sir Norman Kater a noted medical practitioner and grazier. It is further interesting to note that for many years the Brush Farm Estate, through its elevated position midway between Sydney and Parramatta, operated as a signal station, known as "One Tree Signal Station", to relay messages from vessels on the Parramatta River to the, then, township at Parramatta.
The Brush Farm Estate became the location of the Carpentarian Boys Reformatory from 1894, the first boys' reformatory to be established in NSW, until its relocation to Mount Penang, following which Brush Farm House housed girls. Brush Farm House was then used as an administration centre for a school for handicapped children before its sale to City of Ryde in 1990, by the Department of Corrective Services.
Heritage
Brush Farm House has many heritage listings:
Listed on City of Ryde's Heritage LEP 105
Register of the National Estate (002934) File No. 1/13/032/0008
Listed with the National Trust - register ID 6863
Listed on the NSW's Government's State Heritage Register [covered by a Permanent Conservation Order (No 612)] through the NSW Heritage Office
Identified as an item (Inventory Sheet No. 140) of State and National Significance on City of Ryde's Heritage Conservation Strategy
Cumberland County Council list of Historic Buildings 1961 - 1967
