Melbourne was founded on the east-west axis of the Yarra River. At first, the north bank was developed with commercial and residential buildings, and land on the south bank left largely vacant. After the Swanston St-Princes Bridge-St Kilda Road line formed a north-south axis, the sloping land to the south-east, bounded by the river, Anderson St, Domain Rd and St Kilda Road, was set apart in 1841 as the Domain parkland, including a reserve for a future Government House. When Ferdinand von Mueller was appointed Director of the Botanic Gardens in 1857, he was in charge of landscaping the whole Domain, including the reserve, as one parkland.
