Harper's Mansion

Harper’s Mansion is a historic homestead in Berrima, New South Wales. It is recognised for its Georgian design. Harper's Mansion is now a property of the National Trust of Australia (NSW), which acquired it in 1978.HistoryJames Harper, a district constable in Sutton Forest, completed his house in 1834. He was also the first licensee of the Surveyor General Inn at Berrima.Harper died in 1845 with financial difficulties. It appears he had overreached himself and was caught by the recession of the 1840s. Berrima failed to develop as he had hoped. Many blocks had been sold to speculators, but few had been developed and the streets were not cleared until 1837. In 1846 William Hutchison, as mortgagee in possession, took ownership of Harper's house.The house was leased by the church from 1853. It was used as a presbytery for the priests of St Francis Xavier Church Berrima in 1853. In 1898 the priest was relocated to Moss Vale and the house was vacant until four Sisters of the Daughters of Our lady of the Sacred heart, who had opened a school in Berrima, used it as a convent from 1903 to 1909.Between 1909 and 1970 the Church leased the house to various tenants and Harper's' Mansion progressively fell into disrepair. In 1950 the two-storeyed verandah, which had replaced the earlier single-storeyed verandah, collapsed. By then the upper storey, with broken panes stuffed with sacks, was no longer in use. The original detached brick kitchen had collapsed and a fuel stove had been installed in the room to the right of the front door. A small corrugated iron shed near the back door served as a laundry and bathroom with water being drawn from the well by a rope and bucket.