Kirribilli House

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The eastern side of Kirribilli House, as seen from a commuter ferry.

The south-eastern side of Kirribilli House, as seen from a commuter ferry.

Image:Sydney Harbour Bridge from the air.JPG

Sydney Harbour from the air, showing Kirribilli house on the point on the left. It has the grey roof with white chimneys.

Kirribilli House is the official Sydney residence of the Australian Prime Minister. It is most commonly identified as the primary residence of former Prime Minister John Howard, from 1996 to late December, 2007. The house is located at the far eastern end of Kirribilli Avenue in the suburb of Kirribilli.

1 History
2 Prime Minister Howard's primary place of residence
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

In 1854, Adolphus Frederic Feez purchased land at Kirribilli Point for 200 pounds. He built the picturesque Gothic style house, now known as Kirribilli House, a twin gabled residence or cottage ornee. The house features steeply pitched roofs, fretwork, bargeboards and bay windows. The property passed through many private hands until it was purchased in 1919 for 10,000 pounds by Arthur Wigram Allen. Allen planned to subdivide the land and after much public agitation the Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, resumed the property in 1920.

The property was used by the staff of the Governor-General until 1930 when it was leased to tenants. In 1956 Kirribilli House was set aside as a residence for the official use of Prime Ministers, when they need to perform official duties and extend official hospitality when in Sydney. The official Prime Ministerial residence is The Lodge, Canberra. Kirribilli House is located on the North Shore of Sydney Harbour, in the suburb of Kirribilli, with impressive views across to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and to the Sydney Opera House. Located beside Kirribilli House is Admiralty House, which is the Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia.

[edit] Prime Minister Howard's primary place of residence

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Although Kirribilli was never intended to be the Australian Prime Minister's official primary place of residence, former Prime Minister John Howard, who is a native of Sydney, attracted much adverse comment when he announced at the beginning of his Prime Ministership in 1996 that he would use Kirribilli House as his primary home. John Howard used The Lodge as a residence when in Canberra for parliamentary or government business, and lived primarily at Kirribilli House. Howard said at the time he commenced his Prime Ministership that he had made this decision so that his family could remain together while his three children lived at home and one son attended high school in Sydney.

Kirribilli House was renovated to enable a family of five to live there on a permanent basis. Howard's decision raised ire particularly in Melbourne, since the main reason Canberra was established as seat of government was to avoid giving that status to either of Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. Howard's explanation left open the possibility that once his children had left home, he would then take up residence in Canberra at The Lodge. However, after his children had all left home, Howard chose to remain at Kirribilli House. He sometimes said that The Lodge was effectively his main residence due to his work requiring him to be in Canberra more often than in Sydney, but he has never retreated from his decision in principle to base himself at Kirribilli House whenever he was not needed in Canberra. Kirribilli House is less than 10 kilometres from John Howard's former Division of Bennelong electorate.

Following the defeat of the Liberal/National Coalition government at the 2007 federal election, John Howard, who is Australia's second longest serving Prime Minister, and his family are expected to vacate Kirribilli House. It is understood that Kirribilli House will return to being the Prime Minister's secondary residence, as Howard's successor, Kevin Rudd, has indicated that he will make The Lodge in Canberra his main and primary residence.^[1]