Government House Open Days

GOVERNMENT HOUSE DARWIN OPEN DAY


His Honour Mr Tom Pauling AO QC, Administrator of the Northern Territory, and Mrs Tessa Pauling invite you to visit Government House and gardens.
Admission is Free. Light refreshments will be available.
Dates and times are as follows:

Friday 19 August 2011 – 3.00 to 7.00 pm
Saturday 20 August 2011 – 3.00 to 7.00 pm

Government House is the official residence of the Administrator of the Northern Territory. Originally known as the Residency, it was completed in 1871 on an elevated site overlooking Port Darwin. It originally included a central hall with walls made from locally quarried porcellanite stone and attached sleeping apartments and verandahs made of wood. The roof was thatch and the floors cypress pine.

The central stone hall, which is now the Drawing Room, is the oldest known surviving European style structure in Darwin and the only surviving portion of the original building.

The Residency was redesigned by John George Knight in 1878. John Knight was a prominent architect and became the 6th Government Resident. His new building, referred to as “The House of Seven Gables”, was completed in 1879 and has endured cyclones, earthquakes, enemy bombing raids, infestations of white ants and rowdy demonstrations.

Dr John Gilruth was appointed as the Territory’s first Administrator in 1912. He officially changed the name of the Residency to Government House. Substantial changes were made which included new bathrooms, modernised kitchen, servants’ block, rebuilt tennis court and cement rendering to the exposed stonework. The house and gardens were substantially refurbished in the late 1930s by Mrs Hilda Abbott, wife of the 4th Administrator.

The house is surrounded by 1.3 hectares of delightful gardens which contain many points of botanical and historical interest. In 1990, the Australian Heritage Commission placed Government House on the Register of the National Estate in recognition of its significance, not only to the Northern Territory but also to Australia. In 1996, it was given protection under the Northern Territory Heritage List.

Aesthetically and physically, Government House today continues to look very much as it did a hundred years ago. It is held in very special regard by Territorians as more than simply a gracious house. It is an enduring symbol of stability and longevity in a young society that has been confronted by the horrors of both human conflict and the ravages of nature.