NT Heritage Festival celebrates Mother’s Day high tea at Burnett House

Visitors to Burnett House can step back in time to the ‘old Darwin’ with a special Mother’s Day high tea – but there is plenty more to do at this year’s Heritage Festival.

Burnett House, the main attraction of the 2024 Heritage Festival. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

It has faced Japanese bombers, bulldozers, cyclones, even termites, but one of the Territory’s last pre-World War II homes is still standing.

Now, Territorians can enjoy a slice of history with a Mother’s Day high tea at Burnett House, part of the Australian Heritage Festival which begins on Saturday.

The program also includes regular tours, plus open walks through the entire Myilly Point heritage precinct today, as well as talks and family events.

National Trust Darwin branch secretary Fay Gurr said she wanted to “remind people why these heritage buildings are so special”. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

During Wednesday’s guided tours of Burnett House, visitors can learn about its unique tropical design, its close shave with Japanese bombers, and locals “standing arm-in-arm” to save it from developers in the 1980s.

National Trust Darwin branch secretary Fay Gurr said organisers hoped the festival would “remind people why these heritage buildings are so special”.

National Trust Darwin branch secretary Fay Gurr at Burnett House, the main attraction of the 2024 Heritage Festival. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Built in 1938 at Larrakeyah, the luxury homestead was one of dozens alike meant to attract the government’s most talented public servants to the harsh Territory climate.

Its Chinese-born Scottish designer Beni Burnett was a “colourful” and “visionary” character, who legend has it never foregoed his traditional garb of knee-high socks – even in the tropics, according to Mrs Gurr.

“The houses were quite a shock to the people living here because prevailing thinking was to build low-set houses,” Mrs Gurr said.

“But he understood the climate and the airflow here, and built the houses so that they would enhance the quality of life – he was a very unique and forward-thinking individual.”

Because the Darwin bombings and Cyclone Tracy wiped away all but a handful of pre-war structures, Mrs Gurr said she believed it was important to “keep these buildings in people’s presence of mind and ensure everyone can enjoy them”.

The NT Heritage Festival runs from May 4 to 19 and Burnett House is open Monday to Saturday, 10am-1pm, while guided tours start on Wednesdays at 11am.

The festival program can be viewed here and will continue on Sunday with a fundraiser screening of “The Great Escaper” on the esplanade’s Deckchair Cinema.

Originally published as NT Heritage Festival celebrates Mother’s Day high tea at Burnett House