TB1B4E Burnett House was designed specifically for tropical conditions and was one of several houses for senior public servants and military personnel.

Victoria Burt/Alamy


At the far northern end of Smith St is a small but important precinct of four houses built in the 1930s and now on the Register of the National Estate. One of them, Burnett House, operates as a museum. There’s a tantalising colonial high tea ($10) in the gardens on Sunday afternoon from 3pm between April and October.

The interior is light and airy in the style of the times and suited to the local climate; note the inlaid compass on the ground floor. The museum has displays on the architecture of the surrounding precinct.


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