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Inner Melbourne including La Trobe, Old Melb Gaol, Polly Woodside and Portable Iron Houses

 

La Trobe's Cottage

La Trobe’s Cottage, the charming former home of Victoria’s first Lieutenant-Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe, offers a unique glimpse into life in early Melbourne. Originally built in 1839, it remains one of the city’s oldest surviving buildings, complete with original family furnishings and a beautifully re-created 19th-century garden.

Throughout the year, a variety of volunteer roles become available—from tour guiding and assisting with open days, to helping in the heritage garden or supporting special events. Whether you're a keen historian, love meeting people, or enjoy being part of a supportive team, there’s something here for you.

If you're interested in getting involved, please get in touch, we take in Volunteers intermittently through out the year, let us know your interest and we will pop you on the list of Volunteers keen to share this special place.

La Trobe's Cottage Dallas Brooks Drive Melbourne on Bunurong Country 

 

Portable Iron Houses 

Are you passionate about Melbourne’s history? Join us as a volunteer and help bring to life the stories of the gold rush era at one of the world’s rarest heritage sites.

Tucked away in South Melbourne, the Portable Iron Houses are three of the last remaining nineteenth-century prefabricated iron buildings. Shipped from Britain and assembled during the 1850s gold rush, these homes tell the remarkable story of a booming colony, desperate for shelter as thousands arrived in search of fortune.

As a volunteer, you’ll have the opportunity to share the fascinating tale of Canvas Town, where families lived in tents while hoping for the luxury of a small iron cottage. You’ll explain how entire homes—and even theatres and churches—were ordered from catalogues, shipped across the seas in crates, and built by hand, no experience necessary.

These homes—Patterson House, still on its original site, and Abercrombie House and Bellhouse, relocated from North Melbourne and Fitzroy—offer a powerful glimpse into a time of immense change and resilience.

Whether you're passionate about heritage, love engaging with visitors, or enjoy being part of a welcoming volunteer community, this is your chance to help preserve and share Melbourne’s incredible gold rush legacy.

We’d love to have you on board—come be part of history.

399 Coventry Street South Melbourne on Bunurong / Boon Wurrung Country 

 

 
 

Polly Woodside

 

Do you enjoy woodworking, hands-on maintenance, or working with historic materials? Step aboard the Polly Woodside and become part of the team helping to preserve one of Melbourne’s most iconic maritime treasures.

Built in Belfast in 1885, this majestic three-masted iron barque carried coal and nitrate across the globe, rounding Cape Horn 16 times. Constructed in just six months from iron—then the cutting-edge material of shipbuilding—she is a testament to 19th-century engineering and craftsmanship.

Today, Polly Woodside offers a rare opportunity to work on authentic maritime structures and fittings, maintaining and preserving the ship’s intricate timberwork and iron hull. Volunteers are vital in helping restore the vessel, care for its many working parts, and ensure it remains safe and beautiful for future generations.

Whether you're an experienced woodworker, a handy DIYer, or simply someone who loves working with their hands on meaningful heritage projects, this is your chance to get involved with a piece of living history.

Polly was saved from the scrapyard in 1968 and gifted to the National Trust for just one cent—a symbol of community effort and pride in our shared past. Join us and help keep her legacy afloat.

All skills welcome – training and camaraderie provided!

 

Polly Woodside is located at 21 South Wharf Promenade on Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country 

 

 

Old Melbourne Gaol

 

For almost 80 years, the Melbourne Gaol was a place of punishment and execution, where men, women and children were incarcerated for crimes ranging from murder to vagrancy.

 

The Gaol’s most infamous inmate, bushranger Ned Kelly, spent the last few months at the Gaol before going to the gallows.

 

Construction on the Melbourne Gaol began in 1841, and within six years of its official opening the new Gaol was already overcrowded. The discovery of gold in 1851 triggered a huge increase in population, making law and order difficult to enforce.  These factors together with poverty and lack of social welfare meant a larger gaol was urgently needed and expansion began. Completed in 1858, it is this block that remains today. 

 

The Gaol complex continued to expand and by 1864 it spread over two city blocks and included labour and exercise yards, male and female hospitals, a chapel, a bath house and accommodation for staff.  

 

Together with the City Watch House, which closed its doors in 1994, and the former Magistrates Court, the legal precinct offers a unique insight into the history of Victoria’s justice system.

 

We do not take Volunteer guides at this site, but are interested in helpers at the site who have an interest in Australian History and can be Visitor support volunteers.  Get in touch and we will let you know if there are any availabilities. 

 

Old Melbourne Gaol is located at 377 Russell St, Melbourne on Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country. 

 

Old Melbourne Gaol

Polly WoodSide

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Metropolitan Sites : Como, Labassa, Waller House, Glen Fern

 

Como House and Gardens

Perched above the Birrarung (Yarra) River and affectionately known as “the white house on the hill,” Como House is one of Melbourne’s most treasured heritage sites. Surrounded by a romantic pleasure garden and set within vibrant parklands, Como offers volunteers the chance to be part of a living museum that reflects nearly two centuries of Victorian history.

You could step inside this grand yet intimate 1847 mansion and help share the story of the Armytage family, who called Como home for 95 years. As a volunteer, you’ll help bring to life a rare collection of original furniture, decorative arts, and domestic technology—offering visitors a glimpse into the real workings of an elegant 19th-century home, including its preserved servants’ quarters.

Volunteers play a key role in other important areas including events, retail, gardening, and behind-the-scenes support—with opportunities to match your interests and skills throughout the year.

Whether you love storytelling, heritage architecture, hands-on history, or simply being in a beautiful and welcoming environment, we’d love to hear from you. We take new recruits at periodic stages through out the year, so please register your interest and we will get in touch! 

 Como House and Gardens, Corner Williams Rd & Lechlade Ave, South Yarra 3141 
Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country 

 

Labassa Mansion

From mansion to tenement, Labassa is a rare survival of nineteenth century splendour

Labassa is an exuberantly decorated high Victorian mansion.

Its vibrant history continued well into the twentieth century as home to a silent movie star, artists and bohemians. 

The interiors are a treasure of ornamental decoration with lavish Japanese wallpapers, ornate stained glass and a rare trompe l’oeil ceiling.  

Redeveloped in the French Second Empire style by German-born architect, John A. B. Koch, for owner Alexander William Robertson, the house was remodelled in 1889 into a thirty-five roomed mansion with views across Port Philip Bay.  The tower is open to small tour groups on open days. 

Converted into flats in the 1920s, it functioned as a tenement until 1980. From housing post-war European immigrant families in the 1950s to the psychedelic haze of the 60s and 70s counterculture, Labassa’s diverse history is ready for you to discover.

Labassa hosts an Open Day once a month run by Volunteers. Please register your interest and we will get in touch ! 

 

Labassa Mansion is located at 2 Manor Grove, Caulfield North

Bunurong Country

Waller House

Step into the remarkable world of Napier and Christian Waller, two of Australia’s most celebrated artists, whose murals, mosaics, and stained-glass works grace some of Victoria’s most iconic buildings, from the Melbourne Town Hall and State Library to Myer and churches across the state.

Their Ivanhoe home is a true reflection of their creative spirits, a place where life, art, and craftsmanship merged. Every corner of the house tells a story, from the hand-decorated interiors to the bespoke furniture, lovingly designed by the Wallers themselves in line with the Arts and Crafts movement.

We are seeking passionate volunteers to help bring this extraordinary space to life during public Open Days, care for the tranquil garden that surrounds the home, or delve into the fascinating research behind the Wallers’ artistic legacy.

Whether you enjoy welcoming and guiding visitors, getting your hands in the soil, or uncovering the stories behind the art, there could be a place for you at Waller House. We take volunteers periodically through out the year. Please register your interest and we will get in touch ! 

Waller house, Ivanhoe, Victoria. Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country 

 

Como House and Gardens

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Rippon Lea Estate

Rippon Lea is a large 19th century mansion surrounded by 7 hectares of Victorian pleasure gardens. It is listed on the National Heritage Register as one of the finest examples of original suburban estate in Australia.

The house was completed in 1868. It was built for Frederick Sargood. Sargood made his money selling soft-goods on the goldfields. The house is named after his mother’s maiden-name, Rippon. Lea is an English word for meadow. The property was a large, self-sufficient farm, about twice the size it is now. The mansion was originally 15 rooms; it currently has 33 rooms. Sargood moved in with his first wife, Marian, and their 9 surviving children. There were 7 maids, a butler, 7 gardeners, a coachman and a groom.

Sargood was a typical man of the Victorian Age – visionary and practical. This resulted in an elaborate underground watering system and the house having its own electricity supply. Unusually for its time, the house had internal toilets. Sargood was a keen gardener who was particularly interested in orchids and ferns. A large number of plants were imported.

The garden is complex and covers almost 14 acres, which includes a large lake, extensive shrubberies and flower gardens, an orchard of historically significant fruit varieties, a fernery, rose gardens and many other features of historical, landscape and architectural interest, all forming the setting for the polychrome brick mansion completed in 1868.

Rippon Lea is a vast and complicated site. From gardening, guiding, front of house and back of houses there can be something for everyone here! There is always multitude of roles available with periodic inductions. Please register your interest and we will be in touch! 

Rippon Lea Estate is located at 192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick on Bunurong / Boon Wurrung Country 

 

Garden

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