The governor-general also receives visiting heads of state and other dignitaries and the credentials of ambassadors to Australia, and entertains people from all walks of life.

American architect Walter Burley Griffin included provision for an impressive, purpose-built Government House in his plans for the modern city of Canberra.

It was to be placed in a dedicated government precinct and provided with scenic views taking in Canberra's landscaped open spaces and central lake; but, as with so much of Burley Griffin's planning for the national capital, financial considerations intervened and the envisaged work never eventuated.

The core part of the current vice-regal structure began life as a double-gabled Victorian-era house, erected in 1891 by grazier Frederick Campbell at what was then the hub of a working sheep station.

Previously, the site taken up by the present-day Government House was occupied by an elegant, Georgian-style homestead with shady verandahs on two sides, a shingle-clad roof and rows of French windows replete with shutters.

Murray planted the Himalayan or Deodar Cedar at Yarralumla around 1840, and decorative shrubs and trees among the native eucalypts that dotted the homestead's curtilage.

[1] Augustus Onslow Manby "Gussie" Gibbes purchased the Yarralumla sheep station and its homestead from his brother-in-law, Sir Terence Aubrey Murray, on 1 July 1859 for approximately £20,000.

[a] "Gussie" Gibbes made improvements to the property and as well as running extensive flocks of sheep on the estate, he bred horses for the Indian market and collected land rents from tenant farmers.

On 8 November 1881, Frederick Campbell — who had been managing the neighbouring Duntroon sheep station for his uncle and aunt — purchased Yarralumla from his friend Gibbes for £40,000.

Plans for a much grander — and permanent — vice-regal residence were never implemented as a consequence of the economic hardship caused by the Great Depression of the late 1920s and 1930s.

Due to the First World War and the adverse post-war economic conditions that prevailed in its immediate wake, the federal government did not move to Canberra from Melbourne until 1927.

Between 1927 and 1930 the governor-general continued to live principally at Melbourne's Government House, residing at Yarralumla only during those periods of the year when the Parliament of Australia was sitting.

Prior to their arrival, extensive improvements were made to ensure that the building would provide a standard of accommodation appropriate for members of the royal family.

In 1939, Government House was again extensively renovated and expanded in the Inter-war Stripped Classical style typical of Canberra's early public buildings, to a design by E. H. Henderson, Chief Architect of the Works and Services Branch of the Department of the Interior.

The drawing room was made larger, while more bedrooms were installed on the second storey, and a "state entrance" built on the northern side.

Government House consists of a central brick block, erected by Frederick Campbell in 1890–1891 on the remnants of an 1830s homestead.

The "State Entrance" to Government House is located on its eastern facade, and is protected by a porte-cochère, within which there is a set of steps leading up to the main entry doors.

Running along the centre of the house is the wood-panelled "State Entrance Hall", lined with Australian artworks and furniture, including a study by multiple Archibald Prize-winner Sir William Dargie for the "Wattle Portrait" of Queen Elizabeth II and a study for a portrait, again by Dargie, of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

The furnishings and decoration of Government House represent a wide spectrum of Australian artists and craftspeople, ranging from colonial times to the present day and expressing a rich variety of styles.

The grounds include extensive plantations of trees and sweeping lawns, which provide vistas towards Black Mountain in the north and the Brindabella Ranges in the south.

The lakeside lawn and terraces, for instance, were developed at the time Lake Burley Griffin was filled with water in the early 1960s, during the vice-regal tenure of Lord De L'Isle.

In the same churchyard, just a few paces from the Gibbes' burial plot, lies the grave of Lord Dunrossil (1893-1961), Australia's 14th governor-general, who died during his Yarralumla tenure.