Toorak

The name of the inner-Melbourne suburb Toorak is synonymous with opulence, mansions hidden behind tree-lined streets and gracious living. Hub of the suburb is Toorak Village, a cluster of up-market shops on Toorak Road where the locals claim you can buy nothing but the best. The suburb takes its name from Toorak House, a gentleman's residence built in 1849 for a well-to-do merchant named James Jackson. The house, with its Italianate tower, set the architectural style and tone for Toorak, and, on Jackson's death in 1851, became the official residence of the Victorian Governor until 1879. It is now the Swedish Church. You'll also find one of the city's most gracious family mansions, Como, in neighbouring South Yarra. Designed and built in the unusual mix of Australian Regency and Italianate styles by Edward Williams in 1847, and set in gardens landscaped by William Sangster, Como was home for almost 100 years of the Armytage family whose members were doyens of Melbourne society. Como and the original Armytage furnishings are open daily to the public. Toorak boasts some of Melbourne's older churches, including the Church of England's St Johns which was built in 1862 and the Catholic St Peters and the Presbyterian Church both of which were built in 1876.