[2] After a period of vacancy the mansion was converted into an Italian club, boasting a ballroom, orchestra, and a regular Sunday boxing match.

A bullet hole in the stained glass window at the top of the main marble staircase is supposedly evidence of criminal activity occurring from 1938, when the property was leased to a North Melbourne vigneron.

[1] In 1949 the building was sold to the State Government, and it was refurbished by the Public Works Department for use as a student hostel.

This was the result of decades of student-led advocacy that had pointed to the participation of Sir John Medley as a member of the Eugenics Society as reason for a change away from the existing name.

After its brief closure between 2009 and 2011, Wilam Hall reopened with a new extension behind the original Benvenuta building, allowing for the accommodation of an additional 16 students.