History...

...of the Centre

Tara House, the forerunner of Tara Institute had its beginnings in Melbourne in 1974 when a small group of people, who had attended one of the first Kopan Monastery meditation courses in Nepal, began to meet at a house in North Fitzroy. Then in 1976, the group, led by Uldis Balodis, rented an old hotel in Carlton which was named Tara House by Lama Thubten Yeshe. In 1977 the centre moved to a rented house in Miller Grove, Kew and began to develop a retreat centre at Noojee in 1978. The first resident teacher, Geshe Dawö arrived in 1980 with his translator, Kelsang Tsering.

Following the advice and persuasion of Lama Yeshe in 1981 to "think big", Tara House bought an old mansion in Crimea Street, East St Kilda, in 1983. By 1987 this location had become too small, and so Marillac House, which incorporates an historic mansion, was purchased. The Centre was then renamed Tara Institute.

...of the Property

The land was originally owned by the Bunurong people, who were
displaced by the earliest settlers including J.B.Were, one of Melbourne's
earliest entrepreneurs. Having farmed the land since 1841, he built the
first substantial building on it in 1851. He named the building and its land
Landcox after the family estate in England. The original house was
incorporated into the present building form in 1879 by the McMillan
family, who had arrived in Australia in the 1840's with ten shillings to
their name. They were subsequently able to purchase the land to the
north of the Were property. The architect, Charles Webb, supervised
the additions and alterations to Landcox.

Landcox then became home to a succession of owners, including former Victorian Premier, Sir Thomas Bent, and eventually became a private convalescent hospital until 1943, when it was purchased by the Daughters of Charity for use as a school and home for children. They renamed the estate Marillac House, by which name the property is still sometimes known. Substantial additions were made, including a chapel with a stained glass wall by noted artist, Alan Sumner, which was completed on 9 December 1979.

With changing times, large institutions were no longer regarded as suitable places for children; the building was purchased by Tara Institute in 1987. The chapel was converted into a traditional Tibetan meditation hall or Gompa.

Images of the house