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Lyons Cottage Index.

Lyons Cottage, sometimes called BAT House ( British Australia Telegraph ) was built in 1952 as accommodation for the Darwin Cable Company staff who worked on the submarine cable telegraphically connecting Australia to Britain.
Located on The Esplanade overlooking the harbour, the cottage is constructed in a unique bungalow style. The simple lines featuring shuttered windows and high ceilings which echo the distinctive architectural style of dwellings of British colonial days. The building was built solidly of porcellanite stone, locally quarried together with imported materials, such as the roof shingles and most of the timber which came from England and Asia. When the Japanese bombed Darwin, the cottage was not damaged in any of the bombing raids of 1942 and 1943 which destroyed most of Darwin city. In 1943, the United States Army occupied the cottage till 1945 when the Australian Navy took over.

 

Lyons Cottage Picture Link
Lyons Cottage
Lyons Cottage Picture Link
Lyons Cottage
Lyons Cottage Picture Link
Lyons Cottage
Lyons Cottage Picture Link
Lyons Cottage
 
Inside Lyons Cottage Picture Link
Inside Lyons Cottage
Lyons Cottage Picture Link
Lyons Cottage
Lyons Cottage Picture Link
Lyons Cottage
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In 1948 lawyer John Lyons leased the old Cable Company residence and in 1952, he purchased the cottage. John Lyons died in 1970 after a long illness. The cottage, like most buildings in Darwin at the time of Cyclone Tracy, suffered some damage. Whilst there was not any significant damage, the building did lose its roof and the ornate plaster ceilings were damaged beyond repair. The land became the responsibility of the Commonwealth and eventually the building was repaired and upgraded to new construction codes, with planning modifications to allow a wider use of the facility. Detailed efforts were made to replicate the original look of the exterior of the building, including cutting and staining asbestos sheets to match the appearance of the original shingles, although the punkah fan on the back veranda was not re instated. The cottage today is now looked after by the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory
( MAGNT ) and provides the community and visitors with a rich and fascinating insight into an earlier period of Darwin history.

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