# Toorak House > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Toorak_House > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Toorak_House.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toorak_House > Source revision: 1345442589 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox building | name = Toorak House | image = File:Toorak House 1b.jpg | image_size = 250px | image_alt = | caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = | altitude = | building_type = House | architectural_style = [Victorian Italianate](/source/Australian_residential_architectural_styles) | current_tenants = [Church of Sweden](/source/Church_of_Sweden) abroad | address = 21 St Georges Road, [Toorak](/source/Toorak%2C_Victoria) | location_town = [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne), [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(Australia)) | location_country = [Australia](/source/Australia) | coordinates = | construction_start_date = 1848 | completion_date = 1851 | inauguration_date = | renovation_date = | height = | diameter = | roof = | top_floor = | other_dimensions = | floor_count = | floor_area = | main_contractor = | architect = Samuel Jackson | architecture_firm = | structural_engineer = | services_engineer = | civil_engineer = | other_designers = | quantity_surveyor = | client = James Jackson | awards = | ren_architect = | ren_firm = | ren_str_engineer = | ren_serv_engineer = | ren_civ_engineer = | ren_oth_designers = | ren_qty_surveyor = | ren_awards = | url = | embed = | embedded = {{Infobox designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Victorian Heritage Register | designation1_offname = Toorak House | designation1_type = Natural and cultural [heritage register](/source/heritage_register) | designation1_criteria = | designation1_date = 9 October 1974 | delisted1_date = | designation1_partof = | designation1_number = H0207 | designation1_free1name = | designation1_free1value = | designation1_free2name = | designation1_free2value = | designation1_free3name = | designation1_free3value = }} | references = https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/1166 | footnotes = }} {{short description|Mansion in Melbourne, Australia}} {{about|the house in Melbourne|the house in Hamilton, Brisbane|Toorak House, Hamilton}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2019}} thumb|Residence '''Toorak House''' - 1869 '''Toorak House''' is a mansion located in [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne), [Australia](/source/Australia) built in 1849 by well-known Melbourne merchant James Jackson. It is notable for its use as Melbourne's first [Government House](/source/Government_House%2C_Melbourne) and having inspired the name for the suburb of [Toorak](/source/Toorak%2C_Victoria). Jackson is believed to have borrowed from [Woiwurrung language](/source/Woiwurrung_language), with words of similar pronunciation, meaning either ''black crow'' or ''reedy swamp''.{{cite web|url=http://home.vicnet.net.au/~malvern/local_names.htm|title=Malvern Historical Society (Stonnington) - Local Names|website=Home.vicnet.net.au|accessdate=21 March 2019}} Toorak House is owned by the [Church of Sweden](/source/Church_of_Sweden) abroad.{{Cite web |url=http://skut.svenskakyrkan.se/melbourne/history.html |title=The Swedish Church in Melbourne - history |access-date=2007-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180748/http://skut.svenskakyrkan.se/melbourne/history.html |archive-date=2007-09-30 |url-status=dead }} The Swedish Church and Cafe and Shop is open for visitors daily except on Mondays and Wednesdays.{{Cite web |url=http://skut.svenskakyrkan.se/melbourne/english.html |title=English |access-date=2010-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329221926/http://skut.svenskakyrkan.se/melbourne/english.html |archive-date=2010-03-29 |url-status=dead }} ==History== Toorak House was built in 1849 by well-known Melbourne merchant James Jackson and designed by Samuel Jackson in the [Italianate](/source/Italianate_architecture) [Victorian architecture](/source/Victorian_architecture) style.[http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictures/0/0/2/doc/pi002641.shtml State Library of Victoria photograph of Toorak House] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070929090234/http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictures/0/0/2/doc/pi002641.shtml |date=2007-09-29 }} When Jackson died at sea in 1851, it was leased by his widow to the [Victorian government](/source/Government_of_Victoria) in 1854 for official use by the first [Governor of Victoria](/source/Governor_of_Victoria), [Captain](/source/Captain_(naval)) [Sir](/source/Sir) [Charles Hotham](/source/Charles_Hotham) [KCB](/source/Order_of_the_Bath) [RN](/source/Royal_Navy) and four of his successors until 1874—Sir [Henry Barkly](/source/Henry_Barkly) [GCMG](/source/GCMG) KCB, [Sir](/source/Sir) [Charles Darling](/source/Charles_Henry_Darling) KCB, [John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Viscount Canterbury](/source/John_Manners-Sutton%2C_3rd_Viscount_Canterbury) and Sir [George Bowen](/source/George_Bowen) [PC](/source/Privy_Council_of_the_United_Kingdom) GCMG. The considerable property comprised 47 hectares bounded by Toorak Road, Orrong Road, both sides of St. Georges Road and the Yarra River, with a grand entrance driveway running northwards from Toorak Road. In 1874 lease renegotiations to enable the Governor to continue to reside at Toorak House, until the new Government House in Kings Domain was completed, broke down. Jackson's sons, now back in England, decided instead to sell the property to the Bendigo goldmining magnate, the so-called "Quartz King," George Lansell. Already possessing the considerable 20-hectare Fortuna Villa in Bendigo, to which he had an historical attachment, and a two-hectare townhouse on St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, the ever entrepreneurial Lansell decided to subdivide the property into 137 allotments of varying sizes. Hence the new street names, Lansell Road and St. Georges Road (his little jest). All the properties were marketed to Melbourne's mainly newly wealthy élite, as "specially for the gentry of Victoria," and put up for auction on November 14 and 16, 1874. Still, another temporary residence needed to be found for Governor Bowen. Bishopscourt, the official residence of Melbourne's bishops and Archbishops, in [East Melbourne](/source/East_Melbourne) was then commandeered for this purpose before the present [Government House](/source/Government_House%2C_Melbourne) was finally finished and occupied in 1876. The much diminished property reverted to being a private home in 1876, and was used as a [Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force](/source/Women's_Auxiliary_Australian_Air_Force) hostel during [World War II](/source/World_War_II). In 1956 it was purchased by the Church of Sweden, which converted the property into a church and community centre. Exterior shots of the property and grounds have featured in several Australian films and TV drama serials. Toorak House was used as the location for Godfrey Carson House in the period drama ''[Carson's Law](/source/Carson's_Law)'', and as the South Yarra/Toorak mansion inherited by Patricia Hamilton in ''[Sons and Daughters](/source/Sons_and_Daughters_(Australian_TV_series))''. ==See also== * [Architecture of Melbourne](/source/Architecture_of_Melbourne) ==References== {{Reflist}} {{coord|display=title|-37.839153|145.018115|type:landmark_region:AU}} Melbourne Category:Victorian architecture in Victoria (state) Category:Official residences in Australia Category:Houses in Melbourne Category:Residential buildings completed in 1849 Category:1849 establishments in Australia Category:Buildings and structures in the City of Stonnington --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Toorak House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toorak_House) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toorak_House?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.