Architect: George and Snyder 1858

The building at 237 Cecil St South Melbourne was Victoria’s first purpose-built Catholic orphanage. Constructed from 1855 – 1857, it is one of the oldest remaining orphanage buildings in Australia. Today, the building is home to MacKillop Family Services, an organisation that continues to support children who are unable to live at home.

Please watch the welcome video below which explains the history of the building and shows footage from the 2019 Open House Melbourne tour. This year’s tour is hosted on an interactive map. The map depicts the ground floor of the building. The upstairs mostly hosted the dormitories where the young boys slept. Today the space is used as workspaces, offices and meeting rooms.

Simply start at the entranceway in the interactive map below and click on the pins in each section to reveal videos, photos and stories that provide an insight into both our social and architectural history.

Q&A
TAYLA

Meet Tayla, who grew up in today’s care system.

Q&A
JOHN +
MAUREEN

Interview with John and Maureen Ellis. John came to live in the orphanage in 1948 at just 8 years old.

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