Our heritage is about our future as well as our past. It is an on-going story that tells us how we have shaped our landscapes, our cities and towns - a story that tells the world who we are.
Some of our most precious heritage is in private hands and it needs our support to ensure a viable future.
The Historic Houses Association of Australia Ltd. (HHA) is a registered charity and volunteer organisation that supports owners and promotes public interest in historic houses and properties throughout Australia.
HHA Members enjoy special access to an ever-increasing number of HHA network properties. They also have the opportunity to attend events and tours, engage with historians and heritage architects, and to meet private owners where they can discover the rich history of these properties and their collections.
Join us and help preserve our unique built heritage for future generations to enjoy.
We seek to shape the future of the built heritage of Australia by acting as a ‘collective voice’ for owners, to ensure their concerns are heard and that their properties are valued for the contributions they make to our society’s ‘sense of place’.
In April 2018 we held our inaugural conference 'Home Heaven Hell' which was sold out with 250 people attending from around Australia.
House & History: 34 Queen Street, Woollahra
3 June, 10:30am - 12:00pm
The Dickerson Gallery is housed in a classic 3-storey Sydney terrace house at 34 Queen St Woollhara. The house has been the residence and studio of the late Robert Dickerson - one of Australia’s most celebrated figurative artists, it is now occupied by Jennifer Dickerson and son and gallery manager Sam Dickerson. It has also been the home of 20thC Australian novelist Eleanor Dark, and her father the NSW politician and writer Dowell O’Reilly.
Now an HHA property member, this building and its occupancy history is the subject of a focussed research project.
Join Jenny Dickerson, Sam Dickerson, and researcher Catherine Banks in conversation with Ross Heathcote for a lively discussion that promises to tackle the subjects of art, literature, architecture and history..all in the one house!
Morning tea will be served.
$35 members / $45 non-members
Davina Jackson : Book Talk "Australian Architecture"
28th June, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Dr Davina Jackson is an international writer of books and websites on architecture, technology and urban geography themes. She is a councillor of the Royal Society of New South Wales and a visiting scholar with Cambridge’s Department of Architecture.
She joins us at Lindesay for a coffee morning about her new book, Australian Architecture: A history.
Released earlier this year, the book explores how early colonial building designers like James Bloodworth, Francis Greenway and John Lee Archer interpreted classical European styles using local stone and timber.
Dr Jackson examines how medieval and Renaissance monuments influenced leading architects during the 19th century, until the fresh winds of modernism and demands for a unique Australian style took over in the 20th century, with environmental challenges and technological innovations driving change in recent years.
$35 members / $45 non-members
Dr Rachel Franks: Book Talk "An Uncommon Hangman"
14 June, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Join Dr Rachel Franks, in conversation with Ross Heathcote, for an evening all about crime and punishment in colonial New South Wales in the beautiful new venue, Hickson House in The Rocks, Sydney.
Rachel will reveal the story and spaces occupied by the noseless hangman "Nosey Bob" – the longest-serving executioner for New South Wales. Rachel’s new biography of Nosey Bob is a dramatic tale of life, death and radical social change that is told through the sixty-one men and one woman who met him, under the worst possible circumstances between 1876 and 1904.
Hickson House is the home of the impressive new distillery, bar and kitchen in the heritage-listed Metcalfe Bond Stores.
Ticket holders are welcome to bring their own copy of An Uncommon Hangman: the life and deaths of Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard for signing. Flyers, to order signed copies, will also be available on the night.
$35 members / $45 non-members