Governor La Trobe's Cottage & Government House

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  • Address
    cnr Birdwood Ave and Dallas Brooks Dr, city centre
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East of the Shrine of Remembrance, near the intersection of Birdwood Ave and Dallas Brooks Dr, is Governor La Trobe's Cottage, which is the original government house building that was sent out in prefabricated form from the mother country in 1840. Inside, you can see many of the original furnishings, and the servants' quarters is out the back.

The plain cottage is in stark contrast to today's stretched Italianate Government House (tel: 9654 4711; Government House Dr; adult/concession around A$15 /around A$10 ), where Victoria's current governor resides. It's a copy of Queen Victoria's palace on England's Isle of Wight, and was built (with no expense spared) in 1872. HM Queen Elizabeth overnighted here while in town to open the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Book well in advance to take the National Trust tour, which includes both houses. Tours run Monday and Wednesday. There are no tours from mid-December to the end of January.