Date2022DescriptionAffectionately called Bee has been a resident of Fairfield since she first came to Australia at age 12, travelling all the way from Denmark with her family as her Father decided to expand his horizons and search for work opportunities in another country.
Her first memories and experiences of Australia were staying in the migrant hostel camps of which there were two large ones in Fairfield in Villawood and Cabramatta.
The family moved around to a few different suburbs within New South Wales before settling in Fairfield for its proximity to work and public transport.
At the time of purchasing this family home when Bee was now a young adult in her early 20s that whole area of Smithfield was a new estate much like what we see now in new suburbs of Box Hill or Schofields. At that time it was still mostly farmland with vineyards around and open green space. The park that’s in front of their house has thankfully still remained there and to this day the same trees border the field.
While Bee has lost her tongue for her native Danish language, the home is adorned with pieces from the motherland as memories of her parents, grandparents and heritage.
Bee describes the neighbourhood fondly, Smithfield was a growing suburb where everyone knew each other and everyone on the street would get together over a bonfire regularly. Recalling her childhood, she affectionately remembers this house as ‘the party house’ as the family would love to host and have people over. She remembers it was always full of people and laughter.
Now that we have the internet and mobile phones, bonfires have very much become a thing of the past but Bee recalls a story where one time on the same street there were two massive bonfires happening on either end of the park, one with all the Scots and another with the Danes, that police has to be called to make sure they weren’t getting out of control.
This home is very important and will remain within her family. It’s been the one constant in everyone’s lives, and it brings comfort to everyone knowing that they can always return and it will remain exactly the same as it always was. The house is now a home to the 4th generation of the Moretensen Family.
- Renata Dominik, March 2023PhotographerRenata DominikNotesThese photographs are part of the 2022 City Photographer project.
Details
Image ColourColourTypeDigitalCopyrightPartial restriction. Please contact Fairfield City Heritage Services for image use.AcknowledgementRenata Dominik, 2022 Fairfield City Photographer. Image courtesy of Fairfield City Heritage Collection.
Moretensen Family: The Party House (2022). Fairfield City Heritage Collection, accessed 10/02/2026, https://heritagecollection.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/4583
