Message from our patron The Governor of Queensland It has been a difficult start to 2020, but as Brisbane Open House Patron, and your Governor, I wanted to reassure you that Kaye and I have you all in our thoughts. It is now a decade since Brisbane residents and visitors were first given the opportunity to discover what
lies beneath the façade of our city’s most interesting buildings and to hear the fascinating stories that helped create the cultural landscape of today. Since that historic first event, the program has extended to regional cities, and many thousands of men, women and children, throughout our State, have embraced this unique annual opportunity to learn about contemporary and historical architecture, and to discover the importance of good design in all our lives. Queensland’s heritage-listed Government House, Fernberg, joined the list of
Open House sites in 2015 and every October since then, as the current residents of this grand, 155-year-old building, Kaye and I have been delighted to open its doors to the public. As the home of our State’s Governors since 1910, Fernberg truly belongs to all Queenslanders, and the collection of furniture and artefacts, as well as the building itself and its surrounding grounds, tells the story of our State and its hard-working, resilient people. Kaye and I very much hope that the threat of the coronavirus pandemic will have abated sufficiently for
us, once again, to invite people to explore their Government House. In the meantime, I know the board and staff of Brisbane Open House are working with creativity and commitment to ensure that this marvellous feature of Brisbane life can be enjoyed, in some way, by all of us when the jacarandas bloom again in October. His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC
Governor of Queensland
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