Pioneer Cottage, Buderim, Heritage-listed timber homestead in Buderim, Queensland, Australia

Pioneer Cottage is a single-storey sawn-timber homestead at 5 Pioneer Crescent, Buderim, built probably in the early 1880s. Its core is a central hallway with a front parlour, front bedroom, rear dining room and rear bedroom, later joined by two attic bedrooms. Floor bearers are tallowwood, floors, walls and ceilings white beech, and joinery red cedar, pit-sawn and handcrafted; the bricks of the steps and fireplace were hand-made, probably from local clay. Verandahs encircle the house on low stumps, and French doors of glass and timber panels open onto them from all rooms.

John Kerle Burnett bought portion 49, parish of Mooloolah, for £15 in November 1878 and received the deed of grant in March 1879. The house was probably built around 1882–83, and by 1884 the property was recorded as improved with a sawn house and stables. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

The rooms display how early settlers lived on the Sunshine Coast, with furniture and objects from the 1800s showing their daily routines and habits. Each space reflects the practical needs and customs of the pioneers who cleared and developed this region.

The museum opens only on weekends and public holidays, from 1pm to 4pm, so plan a visit in the early afternoon. Entry is at 5 Pioneer Crescent, near the corner of Main Street and Ballinger Road. The rooms are small and connected by a central hallway, so groups move through slowly.

The house has kept its original structure and many original details across many generations without major renovations changing its form. This makes it a rare example of what early timber buildings looked like in Australia before modern changes altered them.