Rick Miller’s memories of Bathurst are filled with the echoes of lively motel afterparties during his tours with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Today, he and his wife Suzy, a flautist, continue to challenge conventions. Since acquiring Rainham, one of Bathurst’s oldest estates, in 2012, they have maintained the property in its original state, a decision that has puzzled some locals.
“I think it worries some people that we haven’t done a restoration,” Mrs. Miller explained. “It can be a little bit tricky for people to understand what we’re trying to achieve.” For only the second time in 193 years, the iconic house is now on the market.
Preserving History
Stepping into Rainham is like stepping back in time. In the laundry, a small pyre of newspaper and sticks remains beneath an old copper, left by the last person to use it. The kitchen’s original linoleum crumbles at the edges. “We’ve always felt the idea of having it more like an Irish or Italian historical home where they leave them alone and do the barest amount of change that the house can actually cope with,” Mrs. Miller said. Where necessary, wallpapers have been stripped back to their original Georgian era calcimine paints. “We’ve found the most beautiful blues, pinks and terracotta underneath.”
One significant restoration the Millers undertook was of the original windmill, which was found on its side near one of six convict-made wells on the property. “We got it going again, and it now takes the water up the hill and into a big concrete tank — no pump — then gravity feeds down to the troughs and vegetable garden — amazing,” Mrs. Miller said.
A Rich Legacy
Built with convict labor in 1832, Rainham was the home of merchant seaman Thomas Raine, his wife Fanny, and their ten children. His humane treatment of convicts during voyages earned him their cheers upon disembarking. At just 18, Mr. Raine guided a stricken ship through the Great Barrier Reef, becoming a hero upon reaching Sydney.
At Rainham, he established the district’s first dairy and wheat production, as well as its first flour mill. The property’s two huge Scotch ovens supplied Bathurst’s weekly bread. Despite his significant contributions to Bathurst, Mr. Raine eventually returned to Sydney, struggling with depression. “I think he was eventually beaten by the climate and the death of some of his family,” Mrs. Miller noted.
In 1855, Rainham was sold to James Boyd and converted into an inn for gold prospectors. It remained in the Boyd family until the Millers purchased it in 2012.
Passing the Torch
Mrs. Miller had long envisioned owning Rainham, often fantasizing about its rumored interiors during grocery runs to Bathurst from their holiday house in nearby Rockley. “We’d heard there were dirt floors in the kitchen … It became this beautiful, romantic thing to buy in my mind,” she said. When they won it unopposed at auction, they celebrated with champagne.
The Millers were so captivated by the house that they initially overlooked the fact that the sale included the surrounding 80 acres. “Our son dug up the deeds and said, ‘Mum, Dad, you own all this.'” Approaching 80, Mrs. Miller now feels it’s time to move closer to the vibrant music scene in Sydney’s inner west. “It’s been a good life, we have been very, very happy living in this beautiful house,” she reflected.
The sale will be handled by an agency founded by Mr. Raine’s son, Raine and Horne. “As corny as it sounds, it’s really unlike any other property in 22 years of doing real estate that I’ve really come across,” Bathurst agent Grant Maskill-Dowton commented. “What they’ve done with it to make it habitable yet to maintain its history is unbelievable.”
As the Millers prepare to leave Rainham, they echo Thomas Raine’s journey back to Sydney, carrying with them a legacy of preservation and respect for history. The future owners will inherit not just a house, but a piece of Australian history, ready to write the next chapter in its storied life.
