Argyle Homestead Museum

Stone by stone, the Argyle Homestead was moved from its original site,now under the waters of the ‘top dam’ on the Ord River, to its current home on the edge of Lake Argyle. It was the former home of ‘Patsy’ Durack, one of the first people to bring cattle overland from Queensland, to stock the first speculative leases in the Kimberley, in 1884. With shady verandahs and cool interiors, this welcoming museum, complete with tea and muffins, maps the Durack’s epic journey and the genealogy of this pioneering and talented family. Its diverse collection of original objects, saved from the homestead, along with photographs and period objects, interpret life on a remote pastoral lease in the 1890s. The story of the flooding of the original homestead is highlighted with images of Operation Noah, that brought naturalist Harry Butler to the Kimberley to rescue stranded animals.