While it’s a grand baronial mansion, the historic residence is also the Morgan family’s home, where Christopher and Xanthe Morgan are raising their children, Henry and Julia.

It’s as if the stately home has been transplanted from a Scottish heath to central west New South Wales. 

In 1827, when the first land west of Bathurst was being granted, Governor Sir Ralph Darling encouraged Lieutenant William Stewart to come to the town to make the first selection. He chose the site of Abercrombie House.

The Stewart family soon bought another 12,000 acres of land, expanding the property to 15,000 acres.

Construction of Abercrombie House, built in the Jacobean Scottish baronial style, began in 1870. It was a project that was to take eight years. 

Rex Morgan and his wife came to Bathurst from Sydney in 1968 with their three children, in search of a weekend retreat.

“We were looking for a weekender and ended up with this – a 50 -room mansion. It gave us a great challenge,” he said.

Rex still owns the property. It is managed by his son, Christopher, who said it was a real adventure. 

“The house was totally bare because it had been closed by the Stewart family in 1927,” he said. 

Christopher says growing up with his two siblings in Abercrombie House was a magical experience.

“We all played hide-and-seek endlessly in those first summers,” he said. “It felt like we’d moved into a castle.”

The Morgan family has spent decades working to restore the house and making it accessible to the public through tours and events.

Christopher says he’s privileged to be able to live in the historic residence, and provide his children with a similar experience to his own.

“It’s very much alive,” he said. “It has a warmth about it. The grandeur is palpable.

“Now, as a middle-aged man living here and raising my own children here with my wife, it just feels wonderful. We are all very honoured to be its custodians.”