Monte Cristo Homestead

{{Short description|Supposed Haunted homestead}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{Use Australian English|date=February 2018}}

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| location = Junee, New South Wales

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Monte Cristo Homestead is a historic homestead located in the town of Junee, New South Wales, Australia. Constructed by local pioneer Christopher William Crawley in 1885, it is a double-storey late-Victorian-style manor standing on a hill overlooking the town.

The Crawley family remained in residence until 1948. The house then stood empty under the care of several caretakers until 1963, when it was purchased by Reg and Olive Ryan, who have arrested its decay and largely restored it to a habitable condition.

File:Ryan memorial, Monte Cristo homestead.jpg

The homestead once operated as a museum and antiques showcase, and tourist attraction with curio/souvenir shop, advertising itself as "Australia's most haunted house".{{cite web|url=http://www.montecristo.com.au/|website=Monte Cristo Homestead|title=Monte Cristo Homestead|publisher=|date=|accessdate=29 June 2015}}{{cite book|author1=Ver Berkmoes, Ryan |author2=O'Brien, Sally|title=New South Wales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=atMAjImVBZIC&pg=PA268|year=2004|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74059-304-5|pages=268–}}{{Cite web|date=4 September 2018|title=The haunting of the Monte Cristo Homestead|url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2018/09/the-haunting-of-the-monte-cristo-homestead/|access-date=25 December 2020|website=Australian Geographic|language=en-AU}}{{Cite web|title=Monte Cristo Homestead|url=https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/country-nsw/riverina/junee/attractions/monte-cristo-homestead|access-date=25 December 2020|website=www.visitnsw.com|language=en-AU}}

Monte Cristo was featured in television shows such as A Big Country in 1977, the travel show Getaway in 1992, the paranormal based game/reality show Scream Test in 2000, Ghost Hunters International in January 2010, and My Ghost Story in 2013. It was also the focus of the 2012 mockumentary horror film Muirhouse.{{Citation|last=Rahim|first=Tanzeal|title=Muirhouse|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2146834/?ref_=ttmd_ph_tt1|type=Drama, Horror, Thriller|others=Iain P. F. McDonald, Kate Henderson, Steve Lynch, Libby Ashby|publisher=Media Collective|access-date=25 December 2020}}

After the death of Olive Ryan, her family decided to end tourism operations. Subsequently, Monte Christo Homestead became no longer open to the public after January 2025.