The hotel was occupied in the late 1830s by army officers stationed at Windsor and it became known as the Mess House and referred to as such in Armstrong's map of the town (1842). From 1872 to 1900 it was once again run as a hotel by the Bushell family. It continues to be run as a hotel to the present day. Its central position in Windsor and its early date and interesting associations make The Macquarie Arms a colonial building of some importance. Description The hotel is a building of generous proportions, with sandstock brick walls, stuccoed over and painted white. It has two large Georgian doorways with semi-circular traceried fanlights and sidelights, but the glass in the one facing George Street has unfortunately been painted over. The one opening onto Thompson Square can still be seen in its original state. The hotel retains its well designed cedar joinery, its cedar circular staircase, its extensive stone flagged cellars, its turned wooden verandah columns, and its stone flagging. The early character of the architecture of the building was somewhat belied around the 1930s by the addition of box-like protuberances to the corners of the building. The upstairs verandah has also been added and some upstairs windows replaced by French doors. Most of the attic windows in the roof were also added then. Despite the alterations, the building still possesses a great deal of its former atmosphere. The hotel is located in the Thompson Square Conservation Area. Heritage listing Opened in 1815 and constructed by emancipist Richard Fitzgerald in response to specific directions from Governor Macquarie, the Macquarie Arms Hotel is of exceptional significance as the most sophisticated and most intact major commercial building dating to the pre-1820 colonial period of Australia's history. Playing a pivotal role in Macquarie's town plan for Windsor, the Macquarie Arms Hotel is the most substantial building to form part of Thompson Square, the best Georgian town square on mainland Australia. The building contains numerous rare and aesthetically superior elements, and continues to be widely recognised for its importance to the understanding of settlement, urban design, and architecture during the colonial period, while its historic associations carry strong cultural messages of the period's society and government. It has been long established by art and architectural historians, and has a prominent place in the contemporary social life of Windsor. Macquarie Arms Hotel was listed on the New