Government House is the official residence of the Governor of Western Australia, a graceful Gothic Revival mansion set behind iron gates on St George's Terrace. Built in stages between 1859 and 1864, it is the oldest surviving Government House in Australia still in use for its original purpose. The building takes its Gothic styling — pointed arches, castellated parapets — from the fashions of the era, and it sits in surprisingly generous grounds given that it is hemmed in by the CBD on all sides. The contrast between the delicate Victorian architecture and the surrounding office towers is one of the more striking visual juxtapositions in the city.
The grounds are open to the public on certain occasions, most notably the annual open day and during the Perth Festival. If you are simply passing on foot along St George's Terrace — which you likely will be, as it is the main CBD artery — the building is worth a pause and a look through the gates. The formal gardens inside are well maintained and the building's proportions are elegant in a way that the photographs do not quite capture. Like many of Perth's colonial landmarks, it survived the twentieth century's redevelopment boom through a combination of stubbornness and luck.