Burnima Homestead

During the school hols we were invited by our friends Claire & Paul to do a tour of Burnima Homestead and spend the weekend at their beach house in Eden. It was a definite yes from us...historic houses, country towns, feasts with friends and a weekend by the sea...what's not to like? We set off down the Monaro Highway early on the Saturday morning for the two hour drive south to the small township of Bombala, tucked in between the Snowy Mountains and the Sapphire Coast.

The traffic was chaos I tell you...

 Arriving a smidge late for the 10am tour (thanks to a pit stop in Cooma to grab Jack's ventolin at the chemist, don't you hate it when you realise you forgot to pack one of the essentials), we tagged on to the end of the tour group just as they were entering the mansion.

Burnima Homestead was built in 1896 for grazier Henry Edwards. The two storey, 32 room mansion is an impressive example of Victorian Gothic architecture. Owner and tour guide, Steve Rickett resides on the top floor of the house and he's slowly renovating the property back to its former glory. A mammoth task for one person...although there are a few purported ghosts who might lend a hand should it take their fancy. Steve has a passion for all things Victorian and holds an incredible wealth of knowledge about the history of the house and the people who worked and resided there. It was absolutely fascinating listening to the stories as we went from room to room and it didn't take much to imagine what the homestead would have been like at the height of its glory.

After the tour we had a good look through the house and took a wander about the expansive grounds before heading down the road to Bombala for a pub lunch. It's a long road ahead with the full restoration of Burnima and I wish Steve the very best. He certainly has the passion and determination to carry it out. The property is definitely worth a day trip from Canberra and I'm so glad that Claire invited us to join them on the tour. 

Burnima is open to visitors from 10am til 3pm on the first Saturday of the month and you can contact Steve via email contact@burnima.com.au or phone (02) 6458 3042 to book a tour. Old houses are fascinating places to explore.

xx Em.