The State Dining Room

Beauty and style are the hallmarks of a formal dinner in the State Dining Room.

The State Dining Room in Government House Wellington features a long, extending table that dates from about 1880 and can seat as many as 26 guests.

The room's furnishings include a Sallé carpet, floor-to-ceiling chintz curtains, an ornate brass candelabrum and the Vogel Silver (given to the House by Mrs Jocelyn Vogel, the widow of Prime Minister Sir Julius Vogel's grandson).

The State Dining Room also contains the remarkable and very valuable portrait collection given to the House by Lord Norrie, at the end of his term as Governor-General, in 1957. In presenting the paintings to Prime Minister Holland, Sir Willoughby (later Lord) Norrie said he was presenting the collection to thank New Zealand for the five happiest years of his life.