page_title: The Lodge (Australia)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Lodge (Australia) / History
context_page_description: The Lodge is the primary official residence of the Prime Minister of Australia, situated in the national capital Canberra. It is located at 5 Adelaide Avenue in the suburb of Deakin, a short distance away from Parliament House. The Lodge is one of two official prime ministerial residences, the secondary official residence being Kirribilli House in Sydney. The building was completed in 1927 in the Georgian revival style, and has been renovated several times since then. It was not initially intended to be used as a permanent official residence, and several prime ministers have chosen to live elsewhere during their terms in office.
context_section_description: The Lodge is a 40-room Australian Georgian revival style mansion, located on 18,000 square metres (4.4 acres) of landscaped grounds. The origin of its name is unknown. It was built as a temporary measure, to be occupied by whoever was the Prime Minister "until such time as a monumental Prime Minister's residence is constructed, and thereafter to be used for other purposes". The original "Prime Minister's cottage" was built in 1926–1927 at a base cost of £25,000 and an eventual total of "£28,319 (approximately $2,298,825 AUD in 2020), including the landscaping of 2.8 hectares of grounds, construction of a tennis court and croquet lawn, and furnishing and interior decoration". The architects were Percy A. Oakley and Stanley T. Parkes of Melbourne; the builder was J. G. Taylor of Sydney. Ruth Lane Poole of Melbourne was responsible for interior design and furnishing, as she had been for the Governor-General's residence, Government House. The Lodge was intended as one of a set of three official residences, the others to be for the presiding officers of the Parliament of Australia (the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate), but the others were never built.
  The first Prime Minister to live in The Lodge was Stanley Bruce.  He and his wife Ethel (they had no children) moved in on 4 May 1927, five days before the official opening of the Provisional Parliament House on 9 May. When he was Leader of the Opposition, Bruce's successor James Scullin (1929–32) had objected to the cost of running The Lodge and, true to his word, he and his wife lived at the Hotel Canberra (now the Hyatt Hotel) during his premiership. However the next Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, chose The Lodge, and all subsequent Prime Ministers have used it as their primary place of residence, except for:
  Earle Page (1939), Frank Forde (1945), and John McEwen (1967–68), who served as caretaker prime ministers following the deaths of an incumbent.
  Ben Chifley (1945–49), who preferred the Hotel Kurrajong, where many Labor politicians of the era stayed.
  John Howard (1996–2007), who stayed at The Lodge when he was in Canberra for parliamentary or government business, but lived primarily at Kirribilli House, Sydney. The latter is a residence maintained for the official use of Prime Ministers when they need to perform official duties and extend official hospitality in Sydney.
  Tony Abbott (2013–15), who served as Prime Minister while The Lodge was being renovated. Abbott resided at an apartment at the Australian Federal Police training college when in Canberra.
  Scott Morrison (2018–present), who stays at The Lodge when he is in Canberra for parliamentary or government business, but lives primarily at Kirribilli House, Sydney. Morrison stated that this was to ensure that his daughters could continue to 'live as normal a life as is possible'.
  When Julia Gillard became Prime Minister on 24 June 2010 after the parliamentary Labor Party decided to replace Kevin Rudd as leader, she declared that she would not move into The Lodge until she had "fulsomely earned the trust of the Australian people to be prime minister" at an election; instead, she remained living in her home in Altona in Melbourne and her flat in Canberra. Following the 2010 election at which Gillard led her party into minority government, she moved into The Lodge on 26 September 2010.
  Of the three Australian Prime Ministers who have died in office, the only one to die at The Lodge was John Curtin in 1945.
caption: The sign on the front exterior wall of The Lodge
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