Government House (Adelaide)

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North side of Government House

The Government House (literally translated government building ) in Adelaide is the official residence and official residence of the Governor of South Australia .

When Lieutenant Colonel George Gawler replaced his predecessor John Hindmarsh as Governor of South Australia in 1838 , he rejected plans to build a permanent wooden house and gave instructions to build a house from solid masonry. This should cost £ 4,000 if possible but not over £ 5,000.

It received a design by British architect Edward O'Brien, but this was modified by George Strickland Kingston, assistant to surveyor-general William Light. The offers Kingston received were all around £ 7,000. After further changes to the plans to reduce costs, the contract was finally awarded to Messrs East and Breeze .

First, the east wing of today's building was built and completed in May 1840. Government House is the second oldest permanently inhabited house in the state after a small vacation home in Pennington Terrace, North Adelaide, which was first occupied in mid-1839. When completed, the building contained what is now the large salon, a small dining room and, on the upper floor, three bedrooms, a dressing room and two rooms for the servants. Little by little, a large dining room for business lunches, a large dressing room, a library and a study for the governor were added.

After Governor Gawler was called back to Great Britain in 1841, in part because of his extravagant building projects, his successors George Edward Gray and Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Holt Robe relied on lower spending on Government House.

The incumbent governors, their families and their guests live in all rooms on the upper floor.

In the past, summer residences were also used by the governors and their families in the Adelaide Hills . The Old Government House is located in Belair National Park. This was replaced by Marble Hill near Norton Summit in 1880, until it was destroyed by a bush fire in 1955.

Among the state guests who regularly visit Government House in Adelaide are many representatives of the British Crown. The British Queen Elizabeth II has already visited Government House seven times (most recently in 2002).

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Coordinates: 34 ° 55 ′ 12.5 ″  S , 138 ° 36 ′ 1.2 ″  E