Olveston (house) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Olveston |
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| Alternative names | Olveston Historic Home |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Jacobean style |
| Location | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Address | 42 Royal Terrace, North Dunedin |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 45°51′58″S 170°30′09″E / 45.86613°S 170.50243°E |
| Construction started | 1904 |
| Completed | 1907 |
| Owner | David Theomin (to 1933), Dorothy Theomin (to 1966), Dunedin City Council |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 4 |
| Floor area | 1276 m2 |
| Grounds | 1 acre |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Sir Ernest George |
| Architecture firm | Mason & Wales |
| Other designers | Green & Abbott (London; interior design) |
| Main contractor | Robert Miekle |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 35 |
| Designated: | 24 November 1983 |
| Reference #: | 61 |
Olveston Historic Home is a large house and museum located in Dunedin, New Zealand. It was designed in the early 1900s for the Theomin family by Ernest George. The house is built in the Jacobean style, which was popular in England a long time ago.
When Dorothy Theomin passed away in 1966, she gave the house, its garden, and everything inside to the city of Dunedin. Now, it is open for everyone to visit. The house still looks much like it did when the family lived there. It gives us a peek into what life was like for wealthy families during the Edwardian era (the early 1900s). The Theomins loved collecting things, so you can see their art, furniture, and other cool items all around the house.
Experts like Nikolaus Pevsner have called Olveston "an extremely interesting and very grand house." Heritage New Zealand has given it a special Category I protection, calling it "one of New Zealand's grandest urban houses." In 2014, Olveston won an award from Tripadvisor, making it a top tourist spot in New Zealand. The gardens are also very important and beautiful.
Contents
The Story of Olveston
David Theomin's Vision
Olveston was built between 1904 and 1907 for a rich businessman named David Theomin. He was born in England and moved to Australia in 1874. David married Marie Michaelis in 1879, and they moved to Dunedin in 1881.
David Theomin made his money by importing pianos and selling them across New Zealand. He and his daughter Dorothy loved music and art. His wife Marie supported the Plunket Society, which helps families and children.
The Theomins already owned land on Royal Terrace where an eight-room house stood. They called this first house Olveston, named after a village in England where David had spent childhood holidays. By 1904, David had bought more land, allowing him to plan a much bigger house and garden.
While traveling in Europe, David Theomin hired a famous London architect, Ernest George, to design his new home. The family lived in their old house until construction began around 1904 or 1905. The main building work was finished in 1906, and the family moved into their grand new home in July 1907. The old villa was then taken down to create space for the beautiful gardens.
Running such a large house needed many staff members. Olveston had a cook, a maid, a butler, and a lady companion living there. Other helpers included a gardener, a laundress, and later a chauffeur.
The Theomins often hosted parties and gatherings. Sometimes, up to 200 people would visit for musical entertainment. They also had smaller tea parties and dinners for friends, doctors, lawyers, and university staff. Famous guests included the English cricket team and musicians like the Cherniavsky Trio.
Marie Theomin passed away in 1926. David's son, Edward, died in 1928 after a long illness. This left Dorothy as the only Theomin family member living in the house with her father.
Dorothy Theomin's Time
After David Theomin died in 1933, Dorothy became the owner of Olveston. She relied on family friends and lawyers to help manage the house and her finances. As neither she nor her brother had children, Dorothy was the last of the Theomin family.
During World War II, it became harder to find staff for the house. Eventually, Dorothy found herself living alone. Later, friends named Stan and Stella McKay and their two sons moved in to help her. Stan sometimes drove Dorothy on trips. A bathroom was changed into a kitchen for the McKay family, and a guest room became their living room.
Dorothy didn't change much in the house during her time there. She moved her own bedroom and redecorated her private sitting room.
Olveston for Everyone
In 1966, Dorothy Theomin gave Olveston and everything inside to the city of Dunedin. She also left money to help with its upkeep. At first, the city council wasn't sure about taking the gift because they worried about the costs. But a group called the "Friends of Olveston" convinced them.
The house was opened to the public in 1967. Today, visitors can take guided tours to see the home and its art collection. The museum also offers special programs for schools, teaching kids about life in the Edwardian era. Olveston can also be rented for weddings and special dinners. It's also a place for music concerts and plays.
The "Friends of Olveston" group finished their work in 2013, having successfully helped save the house. A new group, the Olveston Charitable Foundation, was then started to raise money for the house's future.
Olveston welcomes between 30,000 and 40,000 visitors each year. It welcomed its 1 millionth visitor in 1989 and its 2 millionth in 2018. It has received a "Qualmark Gold status" from Tourism New Zealand, which means it's a top sustainable tourism business. In 2014, TripAdvisor named Olveston New Zealand's best attraction.
Olveston on Screen
Olveston has appeared in several TV shows and films.
- It was used for historical mini-dramas in the TV series Spot On.
- In 2017, musician Dudley Benson filmed a music video for his song (Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy at Olveston.
- The grand hall and staircase were featured in the 2022 film The Royal Treatment, looking like a royal palace.
Building and Design
Olveston was built in the Jacobean style, designed by the London architect Sir Ernest George. This is the only building he designed in the Southern Hemisphere. The house was very modern for its time, with many new features.
It had:
- Central heating to keep it warm.
- An internal telephone system for talking between rooms.
- A service lift to move things between floors.
- A food mixer and an electric toaster in the kitchen.
- Heated towel rails in the bathrooms.
The house had electric lighting, powered by its own generator in the basement. It has 35 rooms and covers a huge area of 1276 square meters.
The building is made of brick, covered with Moeraki gravel, and has Oamaru stone details. The roof is made of Marseilles tiles. The main entrance and some important rooms face east, looking out onto the garden and the Town Belt bush. This gives beautiful views and makes it feel far from the city, even though it's close. The materials and the building work were of very high quality.
The local architects who supervised the building were Mason & Wales. The main builder was Robert Meikle. Other skilled workers included stonemason H. S. Bingham and plumbers A. & T. Burt Ltd.
Architectural experts have compared Olveston to other famous houses designed by Ernest George in England. They note its unique gables, windows, and the special design of its staircase.
Nikolaus Pevsner, a British architectural historian, visited Olveston in 1958. He called it "an extremely interesting and very grand house." He also pointed out that Ernest George was one of the top English architects when Olveston was designed.
Heritage New Zealand gave Olveston a special Category I status in 1983. They said the house shows great care in its shape, balance, and size. It combines many different architectural details like tall windows, classical entrances, and prominent chimneys.
Inside Olveston and its Collections
The inside of Olveston is just as impressive as the outside. The floors, doors, and door frames are made from strong English oak and West Australian jarrah wood. The kitchen cupboards and tables are made from New Zealand kauri wood. The grand oak stairs were made in London and then put together at the house without using any nails.
The wallpaper in the main hall has a Renaissance-style leaf design. The dining room and library have wallpapers from New York. Beautiful stained-glass windows were made by companies in London. The drawing room is the only room with a decorated ceiling.
House Layout
The house has several main areas:
- The ground floor has reception rooms, a library (which was first a breakfast room), the kitchen, and guest rooms.
- A large hall with a gallery goes up through the ground and upper floors. This hall was used as a ballroom.
- Unusually, there is a billiard room upstairs on the bedroom floor.
- The Card Room, also called the Persian Room, is a smaller lounge next to the billiard room.
- A special "Juliet" window allows people upstairs to connect with events happening below.
- The top floor used to be for the servants. Today, it provides space for artists who stay at Olveston.
Kitchen and Pantries
The kitchen has a large coal range from London, rather than a local one. This range has two ovens and nine hotplates. The kitchen also has many labor-saving tools like a bean-slicer and a coffee-percolator.
The scullery (a small room for washing dishes) has many jars of ingredients on open shelves. It has two sinks to keep meat and dairy items separate. There's also a marble counter for making pastries. A window with outside steps allowed deliveries to be brought in easily.
The butler's pantry holds the tableware and a safe. The main dinner plates are white Wedgwood with a gold edge. There's also a beautiful Venetian glass set and an old dessert set from the 1830s. A silver dish from 1810 could keep food warm using hot water in its base.
Billiard Room and Persian Room
The billiard table is very large, weighing two tonnes. Steel beams were needed under the floor to support it. There's a raised area with seats so people can comfortably watch the game. A stained-glass window in this room features a "Green Man" design. You can also see an old Chinese enamel urn and cabinets displaying collections of Japanese items like inro (small cases) and tsuba (sword guards).
The Theomin Collections
The Theomins loved collecting many different things, including art, ceramics, weapons, and furniture.
- They had many Japanese items, such as inro, tsuba, and small cloisonné pieces.
- Two carved Japanese panels (used for ventilation) with peony flowers and a phoenix are in the great hall.
- The entrance area displays Japanese weapons, including helmets from the Tokugawa shogunate, and old flintlock pistols.
- There's also a copy of Verrochio's famous David statue and a carved oak bear.
- A statue of a dancing faun is a copy of one found in Pompeii.
Their ceramic collection includes blue and white pottery, figures from Staffordshire, and porcelain figures from Bristol representing different continents. They also had colorful glass, including French and Bristol blue glass, and many brass and silver items.
The house has beautiful embroideries from places like Turkey, India, and Japan. Some of Marie and Dorothy's own embroidery work is part of the velvet curtains in the Persian Room.
The Theomins were big supporters of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. They also had their own important art collection, with works by artists like W.M. Hodgkins, Frances Hodgkins, and Frank Brangwyn. The dining room has four watercolors by the Victorian artist Myles Birket Foster. The billiard room has three pictures from Cecil Aldin's series about English coaching inns.
A watercolor by Frances Hodgkins, called Orange Sellers, Tangier, hangs on the stairs. She painted it after meeting the Theomins on a boat in Tangier. Dorothy later added paintings by New Zealand women artists to the collection. In 2018, a painting of Ernest George's London offices was given to Olveston.
The Gardens
The gardens at Olveston are very special. In 2014, the New Zealand Gardens Trust called them a "five star" Garden of National Significance. They have an Edwardian-style glasshouse, a potager (a vegetable and herb garden), and hedges of holly and camellia.
While the gardens have changed over time, they still feature important trees like red, black, and copper beech trees. In 2022, a large red beech tree had to be removed to protect a nearby property. You can visit the gardens for free every day between 9 AM and 5 PM.
A garage was added to the property in 1915. The family's original 1921 Fiat 510 Tourer car was returned to the house in 1994 and is now on display.
Images for kids
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Admiring the exhibits from the main stairway, 1982
