Old Government House, Belair

Thanks for your comments, stars and hearts that helped my koala hit the Spotlight page yesterday.

Today Paladian and I became Friends of the Old Government House and attended the Christmas lunch in their beautiful and historic grounds.

Old Government House lies in the heart of Belair National Park and is the former Vice-regal summer residence of some of the early governors of South Australia. Fully restored during the 1970s and upgraded in 2001, the fully furnished building stands as an excellent example of Victorian-style architecture and represents a significant period in the state of South Australia’s history.

Up the steps.

The Friends of Old Government House are an active group of volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds with a common interest in preserving Old Government House. As friends we will be on the roster to show visitors over the complex as guides (docents) on Sundays and Public Holidays.

The Friends also look after the property, house contents, servants' quarters and the wonderful 1 acre garden, with the support of National Parks and Wildlife South Australia.

See Paladian's blip from inside the house.

Old Government House was built on what was then called the Government Farm as South Australia's first official vice-regal summer residence (1860-1880), and was used by governors MacDonnell and Daly in that period. The Government Farm later became the Belair National Park.

It was superseded by the much larger and grander summer residence at Marble Hill, built in 1878. (See my blip of this burnt out residence on 25th October). This original building at Belair was partly restored and opened to the public in1961.
It was fully restored in the 1970s as a mid-Victorian vice-regal residence with further work done on renovation and a re-interpretation of the interior as a Centenary of Federation project in 2001.

It goes without saying that we had a wonderful time taking lots of photos of the property, and look forward to sharing many future shots with the Blip community.