In 1841 Section 908 in Burnside was taken up as a land grant by James Hutchinson, who in the same year, sold it to George Tinline for the sum of £120.

Two years later Dr William Wyatt purchased the property and called it “Kurralta” which is a Kaurna word for “on the hill”.

Designed by George Strickland Kingston construction began in 1843 and finished in 1845, built from stone quarried on the property, the walls being three feet thick. Dr Wyatt and his wife established an extensive garden of flowers, vegetables, fruit trees and an orangery – many of the exotic trees and shrubs of today are of the same genus as those originally planted in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. Water was pumped from the creek. A gardener’s cottage and a dairy were added later.

The house commands a fine panoramic view of the Gulf of St Vincent and the city – by looking through a telescope on the western balcony, Dr Wyatt could read the time on the General Post Office clock. The fourteen-roomed house and outbuildings were modelled on an English manor-house. The western elevation, with its wide-arched colonnade in cut sone, is a simple but gracious example of the Mediterranean style.  As is typical of Kingston’s work, all the mouldings and dressings to openings are kept simple with minimum ornamentation, and the overall effect is that of quiet charm.

Dr Wyatt lived there until his death in 1886; Mrs Wyatt continued to live there until her death twelve years later in 1898, outliving a son who died in the UK, twins Richard and Julia who were born in 1840 and died in infancy, Charles who died at the age of seven in 1849 and William, ‘Willie’, an accomplished artist, who died in 1872 at the age of 34.  If you look closely, you can make out an etching of “W” Willie made, on a window pane of one of the french doors leading out to the terrace.

The Freeman family owned the house from 1900 to 1904, after which it was sold to Percy Ifould, the Managing Director of Dunstan’s Quarries in 1919.  He undertook the restoration of the house and outbuildings, and also collected some of the original furniture and ornaments.  Ifould lived there until his passing in 1967.

In 1971, David Dickson acquired the estate and later subdivided the surrounding area for development. Despite this, the house remained surrounded by a vast garden. It was officially recognised as a State Heritage Place in the SA Heritage Registger in 1980.

The Taylor family took ownership of Kurralta House in 1979, where they lived and raised their children until its sale in 2020. Both passionate and accomplished gardeners, Jim and Doody Taylor created a stunning garden over the years, proudly hosting both of their daughters’ weddings on the property.

The current proprietors have spent two years meticulously restoring Kurralta House to its original grandeur, and it is now open to the public for accommodation or venue hire.