Labassa

Labassa is a National Trust-listed Victorian mansion at 2 Manor Grove, Caulfield North in the City of Glen Eira, Victoria. Originally built as Sylliott Hill in 1862-1863 and lavishly extended in 1889-1890 for pastoralist John Boyd Watson, it is renowned for its opulent boom-era interiors, stained glass, trompe l'oeil decoration and intact 19th-century garden setting. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and open to the public as a house museum.

Visitors can explore a grand two-storey Victorian mansion with elaborately decorated reception rooms, entrance hall, drawing room, dining room and bedrooms featuring stencilled ceilings, gilding, embossed wallpapers and stained glass. The property includes period furnishings, interpretive displays about former owners and domestic life, and surrounding heritage gardens. Visits are typically self-guided with volunteer guides available, allowing exploration of ground and first floors, corridors and garden areas.

Built in 1862-1863 as Sylliott Hill for solicitor Richard Goldsbrough and later owned by pastoralist Alexander Robertson who extended it in 1873. Between 1889-1890 it was transformed into a French Renaissance-style mansion named Ontario for John Boyd Watson to designs by architect John A. B. Koch, reflecting the wealth of Melbourne's land boom. Later owned by the French family who renamed it Labassa, it was acquired by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) in 1980 and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Labassa is considered one of Australia's finest examples of a Victorian boom-era mansion, illustrating 19th-century domestic architecture, interior decoration and lifestyle of Melbourne's elite. Its intact decorative schemes, collections and garden demonstrate Victorian aesthetic values and craftsmanship, and it serves as an important heritage education site managed by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).