Stonington mansion
Encyclopedia
Government House
Government House is the name of many of the residences of Governors-General, Governors and Lieutenant-Governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. It serves as the venue for the Governor's official business, as well as the many receptions and functions hosted by...
located in the Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
suburb of Malvern
Malvern, Victoria
Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...
, at 336 Glenferrie Road. The house was built for John Wagner, a partner in Cobb and Co
Cobb and Co
Cobb and Co is the name of a transportation company in Australia. It was prominent in the late 19th century when it operated stagecoaches to many areas in the outback and at one point in several other countries, as well....
coaches
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
. Stonington gave its name to the City of Stonnington
City of Stonnington
The City of Stonnington is a Local Government Area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the inner south-eastern suburbs, between 3 and 13 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD...
, a Melbourne municipality.
Wagner house
Wagner purchased the property in 1886, and built the house in 1890. The house was designed in the ItalianateItalianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
style by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Charles D'Ebro
Charles D'Ebro
Charles Abraham D'Ebro was a London-born architect who designed many important buildings in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia during the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods...
. The house was named for the birthplace of Wagner's wife, Mary, in Stonington, Connecticut
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, the villages of Pawcatuck, Lords Point, Wequetequock, the eastern halves of the villages of Mystic and Old Mystic...
, USA. Wagner and his family lived in the house until his death in 1901.
Government House
At the Federation of AustraliaFederation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
in 1901 Melbourne became the location of government, and Government House, Melbourne
Government House, Melbourne
Government House, Melbourne is the office and official residence of the Governor of Victoria. It is set next to the Royal Botanic Gardens and surrounded by Kings Domain in Melbourne. It was the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia from 1901 to 1930...
became the home of the Governor General. Stonnington Mansion was acquired by the Victorian Government as a home for the Governor of Victoria. The house was maintained as Victoria's Government House until 1931. During that time the house hosted many famous guests, including Dame
Dame
A Dame may be:* Dame , a female title of rank, equivalent to 'Sir' used as the title of a knight* A title of respect for certain Benedictine nuns equivalent to the male "Dom"* A pantomime dame...
Nellie Melba
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
, the Duke and Duchess of York (King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
), the Prince of Wales (Edward VIII), Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, Lord Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
, Sir John Monash
John Monash
General Sir John Monash GCMG, KCB, VD was a civil engineer who became the Australian military commander in the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the War and then became commander of the 4th Brigade in Egypt shortly after the outbreak of the War with whom he took part...
, Keith Murdoch
Keith Murdoch
Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch was an Australian journalist and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the CEO and Chairman of News Corp.-Life and career:Murdoch was born in Melbourne in 1885, the son of Annie and the Rev...
, and Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
.
In 1925 Christopher Rous, the nine-year-old son of the then Governor the Earl of Stradbroke
George Rous, 3rd Earl of Stradbroke
George Edward John Mowbray Rous, 3rd Earl of Stradbroke KCMG CB CVO CBE VD TD was a British noble and the 15th Governor of Victoria, Australia....
, died of leukaemia in the house and was buried in the grounds. His ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
is reputed to still haunt the house.
School and Health service
In 1931 the house was taken over by St Margaret's SchoolSt Margaret's School, Melbourne
St Margaret's School is an independent, non-denominational, day school with a co-educational primary school and girl's only senior school. The school is located in Berwick, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
, which occupied the site until 1938. It then became an aftercare centre for polio patients and was used by the Australian Red Cross during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The Health Department then occupied the site between 1953 and 1957.
In 1957 the property became the campus for the Toorak Teachers College, then the State College Toorak in 1973 and finally the Toorak campus of Victoria College in 1981. Stonnington became a campus of Deakin University
Deakin University
Deakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...
in 1992 when Victoria College merged with that university.
Private residence
By 2006 the campus became surplus to Deakin University's requirements, and was placed up for sale. This created a protest from local residents, who believed the property should be retained by a government body. In December 2006, the 3-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 Kroger
Michael Norman Kroger is a businessman and a powerbroker within the Victorian division of the Liberal Party of Australia. He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne.-Early Life :...
, announced that he and other Australian businessmen, a group dubbed the "Melbourne Lodgers", would examine properties in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
for the Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
to use as a residence while in that city. Kroger stated that Stonington was the most sought-after residence on that list.
In August 2007 the 1.3-hectare site, comprising the mansion, gatehouse and 3 acres (12,140.6 m²), 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.
External links
- Stonington mansion gardens-redevelopment by Ashington