Emu Hall
Emu Hall is a historic house in the Sydney suburb of Emu Plains in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. The house is on the western side of the Nepean River, located at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
The builder
Emu Hall was erected for James Tobias Ryan between 1851 and 1854. Ryan was a butcher, pastoralist, politician, author and sportsman who was born near Penrith, New South Wales. From 1860 until 1872 he was the member for Nepean in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He was a jovial and popular parliamentarian but didn't aspire to a ministerial appointment. Ryan was well known as a sportsman and as a good boxer and crack pigeon shooter. He was also a race-horse owner and breeder as well as a gambling man. This led to his decline and on his death he was penniless.Other owners
By 1881, the house was the last home of a wealthy grazier, John Brown, formerly of Canonba, who died there in 1888.In 1904, William George Magrath purchased the home with his wife, Elsie and it was subsequently taken over upon his death by one of his children, James Magrath, and his family; wife, Shirley, and children; Dianne, Bradley, Rowena, Tracey, and Donna, in 1967. They remained there until 2004 when the property was sold.