Whitfield House, situated five minutes from the Cairns Central Business District, is surrounded by the Mount Whitfield National Park. It is immediately adjacent to the magnificent Botanic Gardens and to the Tanks Precinct. These large tanks, now used for various cultural activities, were built during the Second World War to provide fuel supplies for the U.S. Navy Base in Cairns.

The land on which the house is situated was originally cleared by Chinese settlers soon after the establishment of Cairns in 1876. They supplied the early township with fruit and vegetables. In 1887, Eugene Fitzalan, who had been a gardener on the estate of the Earl of Benmore in Ireland, leased this and surrounding land from the Cairns Council. They encouraged him to use and develop as much of this land as he pleased on the condition that he made the gardens available to the people of Cairns. He turned the land into a thriving business as well as a botanic garden. By 1897, with failing health, he relinquished the lease and the Council agreed to purchase the improvements. The present Cairns Botanic Gardens date from that time.

In 1925 the first house was built on the present site. It was a family home until 1942 when the house and garden was seconded by the Australian Government for the U.S. 411 Base Workshop Battalion. Members of the Signals Corps occupied the house and garden, conducting their communication duties with lines to all the anti-aircraft positions in the surrounding hills and ridges. At the end of the war a resident recalls the house and garden being littered with wires and remnants of radio equipment. One of the post-war owners were the Shedden family. Col Shedden was one of the first Bush Pilots. He trained flight personnel in marine rescue procedures in the swimming pool on the property. The house was virtually unchanged from 1925 till the mid-1990s when it became a licensed function centre.

In January 2005 it was purchased by the present owners and has been extensively renovated and modernized. Functions are held in a truly spectacular setting, either in the various function rooms, poolside or on the expansive lawn area. The house features state-of-the-art electronic systems to allow digital presentations in all its reception rooms and in the self-contained suites. It is an ideal venue for conferences of up to 120 registrants and weddings and corporate functions of up to 160 guests. Up to 250 people can be accommodated for cocktail parties.

Many memorable events in North Queensland have taken place at Whitfield House, including a formal dinner hosted by Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, when visiting foreign ministers were conferencing in Cairns and a meeting of the Cairns Group in 2006 with the Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaile. One of the notable guests staying at Whitfield House has been Dr David Suzuki, the world-renowned environmentalist.

Po Box 900, Edge Hill, Qld, 4870 Australia

P: 07 4032 2732 f: 07 4053 5284

Email: functions@whitfieldhousecairns.com.au

www.whitfieldhousecairns.com.au