Tocal Homestead

Today we took a drive out to Tocal Homestead near Paterson.

The homestead was built in 1841 as a country retreat for Felix Wilson. The house is only one in a collection of fascinating buildings on this heritage site.

The last private owner of Tocal, Charles Boyd Alexander died without descendants. He was the sole heir to a considerable estate and his Will detailed his vision for an agricultural school for underprivileged children

The CB Alexander Agricultural College was opened at Tocal in 1965 and currently offers a wide range of courses for all ages and experience.

Today's animal photo
http://365project.org/onewing/topics/2014-04-26

[Rachel]

Very nicely framed. It looks a beautiful place to live. I wish our houses were built with stoops like that. :-)

[Diane]

What a magnificent old homestead, reeks Australia of old. Nice commentary to Babs!

[sally agnew]

Beautiful architecture, interesting history Babs. Lovely composition :-)

[Ruby]

Lovely old place, great capture, Im sure there are many stories associated with this house

[gayelene]

love the old house great photo :)

[Ilona]

Lovely shot thank you for the history :)

[Kane Arlow]

Looks like a really beautiful building, it was a lovely gift to leave it for the underprivilaged childeren.

[Annie D]

gorgeous - must add it to my visit list

[Angela Tavan]

Beautiful shot of a wonderful old building. One of those places I must visit one day...

[Kathie]

Lovely shot and framing. Interesting architecture. Love the floor to ceiling shutters.

[Babs]

@tryingforsighs Beautiful house isn't it. Designed like that to keep the rooms cool in summer.

[Babs]

@dianeburns Thanks Diane. We had a great day out. Thank God we decided to go yesterday as it is pouring with rain today.

[Babs]

@hermann Thanks Sally. It is a lovely place. Apparently the bushranger Thunderbolt lived there for a while in one of the cottages tending the horses.

[Babs]

@ourrube Yes, there is a lot of history connected with this property.

[Babs]

@onlyme111 @ibt Thanks so much. It was a lovely day out.

[Babs]

@karlow75 The Agricultural College is just down the road from here and we are going there next weekend for our photo club outing as they are having an open day.

[Babs]

@annied Worth a visit. Lovely place. Then on to Paterson for lunch.

[Babs]

@angelat Worth a visit. There was nothing special going on yesterday which made it easier to get lots of photos, but they have open days from time to time and the Agricultural College down the road is having one next weekend and the Homestead has a couple of open days in June and July. Give it a visit.

[Babs]

@kathiecb Thanks Kathie. The shutters keep it cool in summer and warm in winter.

[April]

Beautiful homestead with an interesting history!

[Brianna]

What an impressive structure! It looks very homely and welcoming! A great capture Babs! x

[Yao RL]

I like the photo has the lady in it. Looks like the place is well look aftered.

[Rachel]

Such a lovely old building. I like the person sitting there at the front.

[Deb]

Terrific shot of history. Thank you for sharing it's background.

[Lee-Ann]

Gorgeous building.

[Robyn]

Lovely composition and architecture

[Gena Pegg]

What a lovely estate! Great capture

[Beryl Lloyd]

A lovely and elegant old property - love the architecture and the composition

[Marnie]

What a fabulous old building. Great to see these great home of the erstwhile squattocracy being preserved and put to good use.

[Babs]

@april16 @lilminimonka @yaorenliu @888rachel @dgrynn @leestevo @flyrobin @eyesmile @beryl @golftragic Thanks so much, sorry for the group reply again, but I have had doctors appointments in Newcastle today and I want to check out your photos tonight.

[bkb in the city]

Fabulous looking house

[Taffy]

What a fantastic example of colonial era architecture! I love the surrounding porch.

[Jen Hudson]

Love it.