Olveston

Olveston was built between 1904 and 1907 for David Theomin, a Dunedin merchant, to a design by the English architect Ernest George - thirty-five rooms in Jacobean revival style with, unusually for the time and place, central heating, an internal telephone system, a service lift and an early shower. What makes it exceptional is not the architecture but the completeness: Theomin's daughter Dorothy lived there until 1966 and left the house to the city with its contents intact and undispersed. So the collection is not a curated approximation of an Edwardian interior - it is the actual furniture, the family's Japanese and European art, the books on the shelves, the kitchen equipment, the linen. Very few houses anywhere survive that way. Visits are by guided tour only, booked, running several times a day. The garden is open separately. Photography inside is restricted.

History

David Theomin, born in Bristol, made his fortune importing pianos and named the house after Olveston, a village near Bristol where he spent childhood holidays. Built to plans by the London architect Sir Ernest George, his only known building in the southern hemisphere, building got well under way in 1905 and the family moved into it in July 1907; when Dorothy Theomin died in 1966, the house and its contents were given to the city (Wikipedia, Olveston (house)).

Highlights

• The intact contents - the family's own furniture, art and everyday objects.
• The 1907 technology - central heating, service lift, internal telephones.
• The Jacobean revival design - thirty-five rooms by Ernest George.
• The guided tour - the only way in, on a fixed schedule.

When to go

Any season - it is indoors. Book the tour ahead; times are fixed and numbers limited. The garden can be visited without the house.

Practical notes

Guided tours only and ticketed - you cannot wander. Photography inside is restricted. Tours run to a schedule and turning up without a booking often means waiting or missing out.

Nearby

Dunedin city centre and the railway station are downhill; Baldwin Street is north.