Government House is the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the governor of Western Australia, situated in the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, the state capital. It was built between 1859 and 1864, in the Jacobean Revival style. Government House is located on St Georges Terrace (Perth's main thoroughfare), sitting on the same block as

Council House A council house, corporation house or council flat is a form of British Public housing in the United Kingdom, public housing built by Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing ...

and the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

buildings. The site has been used by governors since the establishment of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

in 1829; the current building is the third to have served that purpose on the site. The buildings and gardens of Government House are of exceptional heritage significance, being listed on the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places and classified by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. They are regularly opened for public viewing.

Description

The building is a two-storey

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

designed by Edmund Henderson in the early Stuart or Jacobean Revival style, set on of English gardens in the centre of the Perth business district, between St George's Terrace and the Swan River. The unique architectural character of the building is characterised by the use of stonework and bonded brickwork, incorporating square mullioned windows, decorated

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s and

ogival An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two- or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture, woodworking, and ballistics. Etymology The French Orientalist Georges Séraphin Colin gives as ...

capped

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

s. The attenuated gothic arcading at ground floor level derives from another form of Victorian Revival expression Fonthill Gothic. The building has 16 rooms on the ground floor and 25 on the first floor. According to the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places Assessment, Government House is a "unique example of a Victorian Gentleman's residence" set in landscaped gardens with mature plantings and a number of commemorative trees. Image:WAGovernmentHouse1crop gobeirne.JPG, Government House, the residence of the Governor of Western Australia File:Government House, north front.jpg, Government House, north front File:Grand staircase, Government House.jpg, Grand staircase File:Government House Dining room.jpg, Dining room File:Government House Drawing room.jpg, Drawing room File:The Governor's study.jpg, The Governor's study File:Government House Ballroom, west side.jpg, Government House Ballroom, west side Image:WAGovernmentHouse07 gobeirne.jpg, The grounds of Government House on Open Day

History

Following the establishment of the

in 1829, the first governor Captain James Stirling and his family were initially housed in tents on a site near the corner of Barrack Street and St Georges Terrace, known today as Stirling Gardens and Supreme Court Gardens. In 1832, a temporary wooden building was constructed on the same site and used until the so-called original Government House was built a short distance away near the present-day site between 1834 and 1835. This building served successive governors until work began on the new, present-day Government House, for which the foundation stone was laid on 17 March 1859. The 1834/35, building was demolished in the 1880s. The present Government House was built at a cost of £15,000, equivalent to in , largely by

convicts A convict is "a person found Guilt (law), guilty of a crime and Sentence (law), sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a commo ...

. Governor John Hampton took up residence in 1863, prior to its completion in 1864. In the 1890s, a ballroom was added, designed by or under the direction of government architect, Hillson Beasley, who designed a number of other public buildings in the city.

The Lodge

A separate small house, known as The Lodge, was built around 1904 in the north-east corner of the gardens. It provided accommodation for the Governor's police orderly, whose duties required that he live close to the governor, and his family. The Lodge was designed by William Hardwick in Federation Queen Anne style. It was converted for use as offices in the 1980s.

References

External links

* {{Vice Regal Residences of Australia Government of Western Australia Official residences in Australia Landmarks in Perth, Western Australia

State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Perth Jacobethan architecture Victorian architecture in Western Australia 1864 establishments in Australia Ballrooms in Australia

Description

History

The Lodge

See also

References

External links