Stonington (formerly Stonnington) is a private residence and former Australian

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

located in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

suburb of

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

, at 336 Glenferrie Road. The house was built for John Wagner, a partner in

Cobb and Co Cobb & Co was the name used by many successful sometimes quite independent Australian coaching businesses. The first was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name Cobb & Co grew to great prominence in the late 19th ...

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. Stonington gave its name to the

City of Stonnington The City of Stonnington is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner south-eastern suburbs, between , from the Melbourne CBD. The city covers an area of . Within twenty years ...

, a Melbourne municipality.

Wagner house

John Wagner, a partner in

, built the house in 1890. The house was designed in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

Victorian style by architect

Charles D'Ebro Charles Abraham D'Ebro (1850–1920) was a London-born architect who designed many important buildings in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia during the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods. Many of these buildings are now preserved under heri ...

. The house was named for the birthplace of Wagner's wife, Mary, in

Stonington, Connecticut The town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pawcatuck, Lords Point, and W ...

, USA. Wagner and his family lived in the house until his death in 1901.

Government House

At the

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...

in 1901 Melbourne became the location of government, and

Government House, Melbourne Government House is the official residence of the governor of Victoria, currently Linda Dessau. It is located in Kings Domain, Melbourne, next to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Government House was opened in 1876, on land that had originally been ...

became the home of the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

and Stonnington Mansion was leased by the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

as a home for the

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...

in 1901, before eventually being purchased by the state, along with all its contents, in 1928. The house was maintained as Victoria's Government House until 1931.Melbourne Buildings: Great architecture in Australia's finest cit
Stonnington
Last updated: 2 December 2011. During that time the house hosted many famous guests, including Dame

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, ...

, the Duke and Duchess of York (later King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

and Queen Elizabeth), the Prince of Wales (later King

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

), Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, Lord Kitchener, Sir

John Monash General Sir John Monash, (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the war and then, shortly after its outbreak, became co ...

Sir Keith Murdoch Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist, businessman and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the current Executive chairman for News Corporation and the chairman of Fox Corporation. Early life Murdoc ...

, and

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

. In 1925 Christopher Rous, the nine-year-old son of the then Governor the

Earl of Stradbroke Earl of Stradbroke, in the County of Suffolk, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1821 for John Rous, 1st Baron Rous, who had earlier represented Suffolk in the House of Commons. He had already succeeded his ...

, died of

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in the house and was buried in the grounds. His ghost is reputed to still haunt the house.

School and Health service

In 1931 the state of Victoria leased the mansion to St Margaret's School, which occupied the site until 1938. In 1938 the state took back control and the Victoria Health Department used it as a hospital for children with

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

; during and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the department of health allowed the Australian

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

to share the building in its work to help wounded soldiers convalesce. In 1957 the Victoria Department of Education took over the property from the Department of Health and made the site the campus for the Toorak Teachers College; the Department of Health continued to run some health services out of parts of the mansion until 1958. In 1962 the college moved all classes out of the mansion and started using it only for administration and plans were made to build a new wing, which was completed in 1968. In 1973 the college was made part of the State Colleges of Victoria system, and in 1981 the college was merged into the newly formed Victoria College. In 1991, as part of the Dawkins education reforms that were announced in 1988 by the Commonwealth government, Victoria College was made part of

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

Private residence

By 2006 Deakin University put the mansion and campus up for sale. This was met with protest from local residents, who believed the property should be retained by a government body so it could remain a public space. In December 2006, the three-hectare property was sold for $33 million to a joint venture between Hamton Property Group and Industry Superannuation Property Trust. In June 2007, businessman and former President of the Liberal Party in Victoria,

Michael Kroger Michael Norman Kroger (born 30 May 1957) is a former Australian lawyer. He was president of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1987 to 1992 and from 2015 to 2018, and is considered a member of the conservative faction. Early life Kroger was educ ...

, announced that he and other Australian businessmen, a group dubbed the "Melbourne Lodgers", would examine properties in

for the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

to use as a residence while in that city. Kroger stated that Stonington was the most sought-after residence on that list.Elder, John
"A place to call home? Maybe, prime minister"
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', 17 June 2007. Accessed 31 August 2007. In August 2007 the 1.3-hectare site, comprising the mansion, gatehouse and , were conditionally sold to art dealer Rodney Menzies for about $18 million, as a private residence. In June 2008 the remaining 1.7-hectare garden site was acquired for $45 million by Sydney-based developer and fund manager Ashington, who announced a $150 million project called Stonington Malvern, a 75-dwelling development in four precincts, comprising 31 terrace houses, 18 townhomes, 14 apartments and 12 maisonettes. In March 2009 the mansion's former stables, and until September 2007 Deakin University's Stonington Stables Museum of Art, were sold separately by Ashington for about $4 million. In February 2018, Rod Menzies sold the mansion for $52 million to a Chinese buyer, eclipsing the state's previous $40 million record for a Toorak home, making it the most expensive house in the state.

References

External links

* {{coord, display=title, -37.848934, 145.03159, type:landmark_region:AU Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth Official residences in Australia Italianate architecture in Melbourne Buildings and structures completed in 1890 Houses in Victoria (Australia) 1890 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Stonnington