Government House Ballroom

Very cool place to visit, you should book group tours in advance.

The Ballroom of Government House is certainly large and with it's extensive use of gold leaf, it is majestically extravagant. It's 42m long, 16.7m wide, and 13.7m high and takes up an entire wing of Government House. It's large enough to accommodate up to 800 people cocktail style. In 1889 when Lord Hopetoun was appointed Governor of Victoria, just days after he arrived in Melbourne he held his first formal reception at Government House with more than four thousand guests packed into the State Ballroom for the occasion.The Ballroom has an adjoining Supper Room, and views out onto the Government House Fountain Court and Gardens.The Ballroom has a long history of hosting grand occasions such as Receptions, Balls, Royal visits, award and investiture ceremonies and other community celebrations and functions. It also has many fascinating feautres. The things that one is likely to notice first about the Ballroom are:* The fountain/water feature at the front of the Ballroom entrance* The beautifully decorated Vestibule or foyer which is used as the entrance for State Functions held in the Ballroom* The colour scheme which is a 1960s restoration of the original decoration based on the heraldic colours of John Adrian Louise Hope, Earl of Hopetoun and Governor of Victoria (1889-1895)* Once inside the Ballroom I think it's the magnifient ceiling which impresses most. It's divided into twenty-seven sections each having raised moulded edges, gilded tracery and a gilded centrepiece* Next it's the beautiful New Zealand Kauri pine floor* Then the chandeliers which are original but converted from gas to electricity in the nineteenth century* Then straight ahead on the north end it's the dais and State Chair which is only ever used by the Monarch or the Monarch’s representative; and* Then when you turn around and look back towards the south/Vestibule end, you see the beautiful Minstrel’s Gallery up on the mezzanine where musicians perform during State Functions.If only the walls could talk I asked myself when walking through the Ballroom. One could definitely feel the presence of the ghosts of Melbourne's early colonial days.Some interesting stories:* It has been said that when the plans for the Ballroom were presented to Queen Victoria for approval, she objected to the size as it was bigger than the Buckingham Palace ballroom and asked that the building be reduced. However, by the time her request reached Victoria, construction had already begun.* During World War One (1914-1918), the Ballroom was used by Red Cross volunteers to pack and dispatch Red Cross supplies, which were then shipped to Australian soldiers in Egypt.* Seven hundred books of gold leaf were required to decorate the Ballroom ceiling in the 1960s.

If you get an invitation, who would miss it?

Goodlooking place