Dates:
8–25 October 2026
Opening Hours:
Thursday to Sunday, 11am–5pm
Address:
Billilla Mansion
26 Halifax St
Brighton VIC 3186
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Free Entry
Parking
Limited street parking available.
We encourage carpooling, cycling, walking or catching public transport.
Public Transport
Billilla Mansion is easily accessible by public transport.
Take a Sandringham line train and get off at Middle Brighton Station. It is an approximately 10-minute walk from the station to Billilla.
Tram routes also service the broader Brighton area. Route 64 (East Brighton to Melbourne University) and Route 67 (Carnegie to Melbourne University) both stop along Hawthorn Road, from where it is a short bus connection or walk to the Billilla.
Bus routes including the 600, 603, and 922 stop along New Street and nearby roads, within walking distance of Billilla Mansion.
Billilla Mansion is accessible via a compliant access ramp.
Billilla Gardens can be entered from both Halifax Street and Hall Street. The entrance from Hall Street is via an uneven bluestone path. The entrances on Halifax Street are via a more even surface.
Accessible bathrooms and baby change facilities are located on site.
If you have any questions about access, please contact us via info@melbournesculpturebiennale.com
Billilla Mansion is a historic 1878 Victorian-era single storeyed, rendered brick mansion dominated by a three storeyed tower. It is a historically significant site which is listed on the National Trust Register, and has been a local landmark for more than one hundred years. Originally constructed in 1878 and altered in 1888 to design of prominent Melbourne architects Smith and Johnson, the character of the house was further comprehensively altered in 1907 to the design of Walter Richmond Butler.
The exterior of Billilla stands apart as his most comprehensive essay in the mixture of Art Nouveau and Jacobethan, expressed in rendered ornamentation over a large house, with classical idioms as the main stylistic sources. Internally, it is significant for the fine quality and wide stylistic variety of its architectural embellishment, particularly in the plasterwork of the ceilings, and all the associated fittings such as door furniture, light fittings and hearths.