Government
House, Hobart is the home and official residence of
the Governor of Tasmania, Australia.The house in the
Queens Domain, near the Royal Tasmanian Botanical
Gardens, is the official residence of the governor
of Tasmania. There have been three Government Houses,
all in Hobart. In 1805, after two years in a tent
at Sullivans Cove, Governor Collins moved into the
first Government House - a new wooden hut in Barrack
Square. As local bricks gradually became available
the hut was extended, but it was a primitive three-room
home that let in the wind and rain.
The second
Government House was at the junction of Macquarie
Street and what is now Elizabeth Street was built
in 1817. It had 14 rooms on two storeys and had servants'
quarters, a coach house and stables. But it was badly
built - of brick, wood and stucco, with later extension
of sandstone which was demolished in 1858.
Finally the
work was started in 1855, on a hill on the 37 acre
grounds that overlooks the Royal Tasmanian Botanic
Gardens and the Derwent estuary. Furniture was imported
from London.Sandstone was quarried on site (the holes
were made into ornamental pools), cedar and teak were
recycled from an old ship and slate for the roof was
imported from Wales. | Sir Henry Fox Young was the
first Governor who occupied the house as residence,
moving to the capital from Government Cottage, Port
Arthur, Tasmania. The House' Construction was completed
in 1857 and on the 2 January 1858
Apart from the conservatory, which was rebuilt to
original designs in 1991, Government House remains
as it was when it was first occupied. Tasmania's
Government House is today regarded as one of the
best Vice Regal residences in the Commonwealth.
Designed by colonial
architect William Porden Kay, it is a fine example
of an early Victorian
country house in neo-Gothic style and is one of
the largest of its type in Australia.
The Outstanding exterior features of the house include
exceptional stonework, individually carved sandstone
chimney pots and bas-relief sculptures.The scale,
detail and finish of the entrance hall, grand corridor
and state rooms together with their furniture
are unequalled in Australia. Much of the furniture
ordered especially for the house and shipped out
from England is still in daily use.
Government
House has since 1990 had an annual open day, an initiative
of the then Governor, General Sir Phillip Bennett.The
house was the venue of a busy round of annual receptions,
dinners and other events.
