Cooma Cottage

Cooma Cottage is a heritage-listed historic property on Yass Valley Way at Marchmont near Yass, New South Wales. Built c.1835, it was the home of explorer Hamilton Hume from 1839 until his death in 1873. Managed by the National Trust of Australia (NSW), the single-storey colonial cottage with outbuildings, stables and grounds illustrates early pastoral settlement in the Yass Valley and is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register.

Visitors can explore the restored colonial cottage furnished to reflect the Hume period, with original outbuildings, stables, and landscaped grounds on the Yass River floodplain. The site offers guided tours of the house interiors, interpretive displays on Hamilton Hume and early settlement, garden and paddock walks, and picnic areas. The setting is rural and tranquil along the former Hume Highway, with views over pastoral land.

Built c.1835 by Cornelius O'Brien, Cooma Cottage was purchased in 1839 by explorer Hamilton Hume, co-leader of the 1824 Hume and Hovell expedition. Hume lived there until his death in 1873, developing the property as a pastoral holding. The cottage retains colonial construction techniques and demonstrates early settlement patterns in the Yass district. It is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register.

The property is significant for its association with Hamilton Hume, a key figure in early European exploration and pastoral expansion in New South Wales, and as an example of a colonial pastoral homestead. It is valued by the National Trust and community for education on colonial life, local heritage and conservation of early Australian domestic architecture.