In 1930, during the Great Depression, the Scullin Government had Admiralty House closed, and its contents were sold at Auction in 1931. Governor-General Sir Isaac Isaacs, appointed in 1931, was the first Governor-General to live permanently at Yarralumla, in Canberra. During his term, Admiralty House remained empty and neglected. Sir Isaac described it in 1934 as being "stripped of its glamour, with no furnishings but a few fine mirrors, its garden wild and overgrown". In 1936, the State of New South Wales reopened Admiralty House as the Sydney residence for the new Governor-General, Lord Gowrie. The house has been used ever since as a vice-regal establishment.