The Tea House 50 Metres East Of Chinese Temple And Connecting Tunnel To Egyptian Portal

The Tea House, located 50 meters east of the Chinese Temple and connected by a tunnel to the Egyptian portal, is an ornamental garden building dating from 1856. It features rendered brickwork and some timber framing, topped with a tiled roof that has finials and a cusped bargeboard, along with a large side stack on the right. The two-storey gabled front is built into an embankment and is painted to resemble timber framing. It has a three-light casement window on the corbelled first floor, flanked by a painted date and initials "M M". The entrance is a loggia with timber columns framing a central round arch. There is also access from the rear at a higher embankment level, showcasing genuine timber framing.

Inside, the loggia leads into a short south arm of a cruciform tunnel layout, which ends to the north in a boarded seating apse. The east end, still within the cottage's ground floor, contains an over-life-sized sculpture of a seated baboon. An exit to the north leads to an upper level, and the crossing features mock bamboo-work walls and ceiling panels. The long west arm, which is a genuine tunnel, connects to the Egyptian portal, continuing the sequential perambulation of the gardens from the Chinese layout and the pinetum to Wellingtonia Avenue.