A Private High Tea at Yallum Park

Yallum Park homestead framed by the grand old trees on the property

Yallum Park is one of the most special properties in Australia, and we still feel a bit lucky every time we walk through the front door. This grand Victorian mansion opens its doors to the public from time to time, but we are thrilled to be working with the Yallum Park custodians on something different: a brand-new private high tea, served in the mansion’s own dining room, just for our guests.

Built for John Riddoch, the man credited with founding the Coonawarra wine district, the mansion has been privately owned by the same family since 1914. Custodians Andy and Annie Clifford have generously opened the ground-floor rooms and gardens for this experience, taking guests somewhere most visitors never get to linger. Inside is a detail worth seeing in person: Australia’s largest surviving collection of original William Morris wallpaper, still hanging on the walls nearly a century and a half after the house was completed in 1880.

In 2025, a Netflix production crew came looking for a location for the My Brilliant Career reboot, and Yallum Park was exactly what they needed. The house has been so carefully looked after over the generations that the crew could take silicone moulds of the stonework rather than change a single detail for filming, leaving the house exactly as they found it. It says a lot about how special this place is, and we love that our guests now get to experience it too.

A private guided tour of the ground floor and gardens is followed by high tea served in the formal dining room, seated at the bay window overlooking the grounds. Bookings run for three unhurried hours in the early afternoon and are capped at four to six guests, by request only, so we can keep the afternoon relaxed and properly hosted rather than rushed through.

The table is worth lingering over: imagine delicate macarons, white chocolate-dipped madeleines, coconut lamingtons, warm scones, finger sandwiches, tea, coffee and a shared bottle of Coonawarra sparkling wine.

Simon or Kerry hosts every group personally, alongside Andy and Annie, who have called Yallum Park home since 1914. It is a genuinely lovely afternoon, and we are proud to be the ones bringing it to life.

If you are after something a little different on the Limestone Coast, we would love to host you.

👉 Enquire about Yallum Park High Tea

Finger sandwiches on the tiered stand