KARDINIA HOUSE

Kardinia House, a two-storey brick and stone house, constructed in various stages. The name “Kardinia” is from the Wadawurrung language meaning ‘morning’ or ‘sunrise’. The house is a two-storey masonry dwelling with a central portion flanked by two wings, with bay windows and a verandah. The house occupies an elevated and commanding position with an outlook towards the Barwon River. Several mature exotic trees survive from the nineteenth-century garden. 

The Kardinia House is of historical significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:  

Criterion A 

Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history. 

Criterion H 

Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Victoria’s history. 

Kardinia House is historically significant as one of the oldest residences in the Geelong region. The original stone house (c. 1850) is still present, though it was extended and renovated in the 1860s and again in the 1880s. The house has a position of prominence within the landscape with views from the house to the Barwon River as well as views of the house from across the river. Kardinia House has a long and varied history and is associated with several influential Victorians, Subsequent owners included other local and colonial politicians, cementing Kardinia House’s place at the centre of high society in the region. [Criterion A]   

 

Kardinia House is historically significant for its association with one of the founders of Geelong, Dr. Alexander Thomson. Thomson’s career is interwoven with the history of Geelong and the infant Port Phillip colony. Thomson was an influential Victorian, campaigning for Victoria’s separation from New South Wales, being elected twice to the new colony's Parliament, serving as Geelong’s first mayor, and becoming director of the Geelong-Melbourne Railway Company. Thomson was also heavily involved in requests for the ‘protection’ of the newly arrived squatters, which came at the expense of the Wadawurrrung People. Ultimately, his usurping of Wadawurrung Country, and the grazing of cattle and sheep, helped end the traditional way of life for Wadawurrung People in Greater Geelong. Kardinia House, with its commanding and elevated position overlooking the Barwon River and surviving mature plantings, is demonstrative of Thomson’s status and his close relationship with the Geelong region, being one of the earliest residences to be established in this region. [Criterion H]