The Dining Room

This room is a twin of the Drawing Room opposite, with lead light and a bay window. It also suffered damage during the 1994 fire and the curtains, light fittings and carpet are all reproduction pieces typical of the period 1875-1880.

The cedar dining table with the turned legs and matching chairs, c1920s, are not of the earlier period of the homestead, however are fine examples of Australian furniture. The fireplace was modernised during the 1920s. Over the fireplace is an etching inscribed F Enfield, dated 1868. The American Amstel clock on the mantelpiece was donated by Mrs. Oliver of Oliver's Hill, Frankston. The bellows by the fireplace are of Mexican origin.

On either side of the fireplace, in the lead light cabinets, are some of the Society's most unusual china pieces such as the Wedgewood plates in a shell design. The Encyclopedia Britiannica on the other cabinet is dated 1879 and is an eleventh edition with gold edges.

The tapestry to the left of the bay window is the third of the three brought to Australia by Lord Somerville during the nineteenth century. The other two are in the Drawing Room.

In the bay window is a pedestal of turned Australian cedar. The square occasional table to the right has barley sugar twists. The sideboard, or chiffoniere, is an elegant piece that held the many bits and pieces collected during earlier times. Today this one exhibits silverware, ruby glasses and jam and pickle jars, all that would have been used in the dining room.

This room captures the ambience of a formal dining room of the Victorian era. Because of the table, the room would have also been used as a writing and sitting room for the family. In the winter a fire would have burned all day and family members would have sat around the table in the evening, reading, writing, playing cards or sewing.