Captain Mills Cottage

One of Victoria's oldest homes, Mills Cottage is a reminder of maritime history and life in Port Fairy, a fishing village on the Shipwreck Coast. Port Fairy, also known as Belfast, was one of the busiest ports in colonial Victoria.

Named after the Mills family, who occupied or owned the cottage from 1842 – 1909, the house remains considerably intact including over fifty different wallpapers layered throughout its rooms. The earliest surviving part of Mills Cottage dates to 1843, making it one of Victoria’s oldest homes.

John and his brother Charles Fredrick Mills had been sealers and whalers, but settled in Port Fairy, where John became a maritime trader and Harbour Master and Charles a farmer. From the mid 1850s-1871 Captain John Mills was the Port Fairy Harbour Master, an important role in such a bustling port.

There are steps and uneven ground that must be navigated.