The eastern aspect of the Private Drawing Room, with a French window providing access to the flower garden. This room has been substantially changed in shape as a result of alterations made for the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1920. The whole external arcade which formed the eastern portico was incorporated into the area between the cross beam and the windows. The result has been to make it a large, open and spacious room.

This room illustrates successive changes in interior decoration in the house. It began in the bare whitewash style. In the 1880s it was redecorated in a darker Victorian style with drapes, patterned wallpaper and many pieces of furniture. During the Commonwealth period, it underwent alterations, which gave it a more functional style. And in the 1960s it has been changed into the house style of lightness, brightness and elegance. The colours are cool and subdued, sage and gilt dominate, ceiling mouldings are discretely picked out in burnished gold, and architraves on doors and windows have been painted.

The mantelpiece of white Carrara marble has decorative Minton tiles on either side. The piano is a Bechstein Grand made of walnut. The Louis XIV style blue-grey gilded suite is from the Government House at Calcutta, as is the circular gilded marble table. The suite of furniture is on loan from the Johnston Collection. In the foreground is a round blackwood occasional table.

The Private Drawing Room is used for small formal occasions such as the swearing in of judges, and also as a reception area for the Private Dining Room.