Tucked secretively away under the Oak Trees as you enter Richmond is Oak Lodge, built c1831 - a historic Georgian sandstone house of fine proportions.
Visitors to the house will find it largely in it’s original condition, as this historic house retains details from unique staircases, door locks and cedar joinery to original cobblestone paths, stables and wild garden.
Oak Lodge is the only historic home open to the public in Richmond and is itself a transportation back in time – with a lack of modern facilities that highlights the lifestyles of the Booths, the Clarkes, the Horsfall sisters and others who made Oak Lodge their home.
Managed by the Coal River Historical Society, it features furnished interiors and stunning 1840s Gothic Revival wallpaper, while upstairs an exhibition on Richmond’s early European settlement sprawls through the front room.
You’ll see interpretation of its roles as a school; residence for a magistrate; Doctor William Clarke’s consulting rooms and home of the three artistic Horsfall sisters.
Oak Lodge’s rambling garden is truly a delight, laid out within a 19th century cobblestone service yard between the house and its original outbuildings.
Come for a self-guided tour on Sundays between 11:30 and 3:30pm.
Entry is $6 per adult, the proceeds of which go directly to the house.
