Werribee Mansion Melbourne

The Werribee Park Mansion was one place I had in my list of things to do when I first moved to Melbourne. However, it is only now that I actually made the effort to finally check it out.

Werribee Park Mansion is about a 40-minute drive from Melbourne CBD. The mansion includes 60 rooms (not all of them are open to the public) and is Victoria’s largest and more elaborate private residence, taking three years to build. It was completed in 1877 and used only the finest materials and expertise and remained with the family until 1922.

Werribee Mansion‎ (15) — The Mansion is surrounded by gorgeous, well-kept gardens with plenty of lovely green grass areas to set up a picnic.

The Catholic Church occupied Werribee house for fifty years. During their occupation the Church added several wings to the house including two, which have been converted into a Hotel and Spa. During our visit though there was a wedding function happening so we did not feel comfortable checking out the Hotel and Spa area.

The Victorian Government acquired the Werribee Mansion from the Catholic Church in 1973 and commenced the challenging work of restoring the Mansion to its former glory. There was an entire floor dedicated to the restoration project with heaps of photos and information for you to read about the extensive project. It’s amazing how they have restored the Mansion from its original status. It must have been (and will continue to be) a massive task.

The rooms open to the public include the billiard room, the main bedrooms, the reception rooms and part of the kitchen. Check out the photos that we took of some of these rooms. I can definitely say I felt an eerie feeling while walking around the rooms, maybe due to the fact that it was a cold, grey day and that we were only a small handful of people walking through the Mansion on that day.

Werribee Mansion‎ (22) — I appreciated seeing the old dinner set was so perfectly laid out on the table.

Werribee Mansion‎ (25) — Can you believe people used to cook like this! It’s hard to imagine as we are so used to simply putting something in the microwave to heat up instantly.

As I walked through the Mansion I couldn’t help by notice the highly decorated ceiling corners and door frames, just take a moment to carefully look at this photo below and notice that detail. It was really remarkable to see in person all of those different patterns, colours and textures.

Werribee Mansion‎ (76) — The highly decorated ceiling corners and door frames were absolutely gorgeous.

Werribee Mansion‎ (36) — I thought the foyer was breathtaking with the natural light shining through the stained glass window and getting absorbed by the highly decorated mosaic foyer floor. It created a spectacular entrance.

Can you imagine how different life would have been if you grew up in this era?

Don’t forget to look at the photos I took of the Werribee Rose Gardens.