Statement of Cultural Heritage Significance:

AHC CITATION Toorak House in St George's Road, Toorak, constructed c.1848-51 was designed by architect Samuel Jackson, and erected for but never occupied by wealthy Melbourne merchant James Jackson. The asymmetrical, rectangular plan two storey brick and stucco Italianate style mansion, complete with dominant tower and ground floor colonnade was leased and then extravagantly extended as the residence of the Governor of Victoria from 1854-74. Toorak House is of special historical importance as the first substantial Government House in Victoria and the centre of Vice-Regal Administration from 1854-74. The structure is perhaps the oldest surviving mansion house in the State and of paramount architectural importance as an original example of the Italianate tradition in residential design in Victoria by important pioneer architect Samuel Jackson. Toorak House survives essentially intact although the character of the original mansion has been partially obliterated by alterations and embellishment. The extensive outbuildings and quarters have been demolished and the interior sympathetically converted for use of the Swedish Church in Victoria. Of national significance.