Susannah Place is a museum in The Rocks, Sydney, set inside four terrace houses built in 1844 by Irish immigrants. A guided tour takes you through preserved rooms and domestic spaces, including basement kitchens, tiny backyards and outdoor wash areas. The houses were home to more than 100 families from 1844 to 1990, and their stories show how working-class Sydneysiders lived across generations. It is a compact, personal counterpoint to grander historic buildings, with details of daily life at its centre.
Four houses in The Rocks
Susannah Place is a row of four terrace houses on Gloucester Street in The Rocks. Irish immigrants built them in 1844, and working-class families lived in them until the site became a museum in the 1990s. More than 100 families called the houses home between 1844 and 1990.
The buildings survived waves of demolition and redevelopment that altered much of the area. Their worn interiors and modest domestic spaces preserve a record of city life that is different from the story told by Sydney’s grander historic homes.
Inside the homes
The guided tour moves through the houses and the everyday spaces around them. Depending on which areas are open, you may see a basement kitchen, a bedroom, small backyards, laundry areas and outdoor wash spaces. The houses retain features of their long domestic use, including aged surfaces and layers of interior changes.
Rather than presenting the past through models or film, the museum uses the actual rooms and the stories of the people who lived there. Family photographs and objects help connect individual residents to the spaces they used. The tour also looks at how the houses changed over time, including a more recent interior in one of the buildings.
Stories of the residents
The history here is centred on ordinary household life: where families cooked, washed and slept, and how children grew up in crowded homes. The buildings offer a close view of working-class life in The Rocks from the nineteenth century into the twentieth, alongside the wider story of the neighbourhood.
Tours bring in the people who lived at Susannah Place and the conditions of their daily lives. The site’s history is largely European in focus; tour accounts have also included reference to Indigenous history. If you have questions about a particular room or resident, there is time to ask the guide during the visit.
Perguntas frequentes
Do you need to book Susannah Place in advance?
Yes. Entry is by guided tour, and numbers are limited because the houses are small. Book online before you go.
How long is a visit to Susannah Place?
Allow about one hour for the guided tour.
Which days is Susannah Place open?
The museum is open to the public on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Can you take photos inside Susannah Place?
No. Photography is not allowed inside.
