1860-1868 Used by Governors MacDonnell and Daly.
1870-1873 Tenanted by Major J.A. Fergusson (Governor Fergusson’s brother).
1873-1883 The Governor’s cottage was taken over by the Survey Department for the manufacture of rabbit poison. The foreman of works, Mr Max Biernbaum, used the House as living quarters, and the older cottage became the factory.
1879 The new larger Vice-regal summer residence, Marble Hill, was completed. It had twenty-six rooms and was designed in a Victorian Gothic Revival Style.
1886 All buildings on the site were transferred to the new Woods and Forests Department and a Woods and Forests Nursery was set up adjacent to those buildings.
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1891 The Government Farm became South Australia’s first National Park, except for the Woods and Forests Nursery area.
1887-1958 The Old Government House, re-named “The Rest”, was occupied by the curators of the Woods and Forests Nursery.
1955 Marble Hill was almost totally destroyed in the aptly named ‘Black Sunday Bushfire’. In September the Government announced that Marble Hill would not be rebuilt.
1958 All buildings on the site were transferred to the Commissioners of the National Park.
1961 The Old Government House Main House was opened to the public after partial restoration.
1975-1982 Major restoration was done on both the Main House and the Servants’ Quarters. The garden was completely redesigned.
1983 The Friends of Old Government House was formed to care for the complex.
2000-2001 Using money from a Centenary of Federation grant and funds raised by the Friends of Old Government House, further renovations and restoration was done, including a new roof and wallpaper and curtaining throughout the Main House.
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