Olveston (house)

Historic home and museum in New Zealand

Olveston Historic Home is a substantial house and museum in an inner suburb of Dunedin, New Zealand. The house was designed by Ernest George in the Jacobean style in the early 20th century for the Theomin family. When Dorothy Theomin died in 1966, the house, garden and contents were gifted to the city, and are now open to the public. The house is decorated and furnished much as it was when the family lived there, creating a snapshot of upperclass colonial Edwardian life. The Theomins were avid collectors and their art, furniture, weapons and decorative items can be seen throughout the house. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner described Olveston as "an extremely interesting and very grand house", while Heritage New Zealand, who have protected it with a Category I registration, regard it as "an outstanding illustration of Jacobean design and one of New Zealand's grandest urban houses". In 2014 it won the TripAdvisor Choice Attraction award, making it the number one tourist destination in New Zealand. The gardens are of national significance.

Olveston was built between 1904 and 1907 for wealthy merchant David Theomin. He was born in Bristol, England, and emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1874. Theomin married Marie Michaelis of Melbourne (1855–1926) in Melbourne in January 1879. In 1881 Theomin and his wife moved to Dunedin. By marriage Theomin was related to the extended Hallenstein, Fels, de Beer and Brasch families of Dunedin, patrons of the arts and learning. Theomin's fortune came substantially from importing pianos, which he distributed through a New Zealand wide chain of shops, called The Dresden, and later The Bristol Piano Company. He and his daughter Dorothy were patrons especially of music and the visual arts, while his wife Marie was a strong supporter of the now Plunket Society. By 1901 he had bought an adjacent property and in 1904 acquired another, allowing him to plan the building of a new house and garden in earnest. The house would have been a "fashionable two storey house with large bays set at right angles to a semicircular veranda that scaled the full height of the building." It was designed in red brick with contrasting stone facings, a veranda and Marseille tile roof. It would have been similar in appearance to Venard, a house designed by James Louis Salmond and built in 1898 in Mornington. The original villa was demolished to make way for the gardens. The Theomins regularly hosted 'at homes', daytime gatherings where up to 200 people might attend, at which there was always musical entertainment. Smaller afternoon teas were held in the drawing room to introduce or farewell friends, and dinner and bridge parties also, with attendees drawn from the church leaders, doctors, lawyers, university staff and business people of Dunedin. Marie and Dorothy Theomin often sang, but often invited performers, including the Cherniavsky Trio, and Mischa Levitsky. Truby King was known to be an eccentric dinner guest who would leave the table if he found the conversation tedious. Marie Theomin died aged 71 in 1926, and Dorothy's older brother Edward died of lethargic encephalitis in 1928, having never properly recovered his health after the war. It may also be hired for weddings, and formal dinners in the original dining room. The house is also used as a venue for chamber music concerts, plays and other performances. The house hosts artists in residence including printmaker Manu Berry in 2014, and poet Ruth Arnison. The Friends of Olveston group wound up in 2013, having achieved its aim of 'saving Olveston'. The following year the Olveston Charitable Foundation was launched with the purpose of building funds to secure the home's future and avoid it becoming a "burden on the ratepayer" as desired by Dorothy Theomin. Olveston has between 30,000 and 40,000 visitors annually, welcoming its 1 millionth visitor in 1989, In 2014 TripAdvisor named Olveston as New Zealand's top attraction, but only 4% of visitors are from Dunedin.

Olveston was used as the setting for historical mini dramas in the TV magazine series Spot On. In 2017 Dunedin musician Dudley Benson released a remake of Shona Laing's (Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy, with a video recorded at Olveston. The hall and staircase appeared as part of the interior of the Lavania royal residence in the 2022 film The Royal Treatment.

The house was built in the Jacobean style to plans prepared by the London architect Sir Ernest George. Architectural historian Hilary Grainger compared Olveston to George's other work, and thought the high Dutch gables, window details, door canopy and rainwater heads were reminiscent of their other private houses, and the shaped gables similar to those found at Poles and Busbridge Hall. The straight gables are more similar to those found at Batsford and Motcombe (now Port Regis School). She considered the round bay window in the dining room and the oriel window above the great hall to be more unusual features. Grainger also notes that the stair and gallery arrangement, with half landing and open arcades, is identical to that designed by George for 52 Cadogan Square. The British architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner visited Olveston in August 1958 and described Olveston as "an extremely interesting and very grand house". He also noted that Ernest George was one of five or six pre eminent English architects at the time of its commission. Although Heritage New Zealand describe the house as "quite unrelated to the development of New Zealand domestic architecture",

The house was designated as Category I status by Heritage New Zealand in 1983. The listing compares the house to Holland House in London, and says it is also "reminiscent of the Elizabethan mansion, Kirby Hall". The report notes that "Olveston shows great attention to form, harmony and proportions. The architectural details are an eclectic combination of tall mullioned bay windows, classical portico, prominent chimneys, crenellations, battlements and turrets." The flooring, doors and architraves are made of English oak and West Australian jarrah. The range has two ovens and nine hotplates, a temperature gauge and a mica viewing window. An 18th century Canton enamel urn from the reign of Emperor Chi'en Lung is also positioned in the billiard room, and there are cabinets displaying collections of inro, tsuba and cloisonné miniatures. The vestibule houses an exhibition of predominantly Japanese weaponry collected by David Theomin, including Tokugawa Shogunate helmets, two 'Moorish' flintlocks and an 18th century flintlock pistol, as well as a terracotta copy of Verrochio's David, and a carved oak bear. The ceramic collection includes blue and white ware, Staffordshire flatback figures, and four c1775 hard paste porcelain figures from Bristol representing Europe, Asia, Africa and America. There is a collection of coloured glass, including French glass and Bristol blue glass, and brass and silverware, including a silver tea service. Three lithographs from Cecil Aldin's Coaching Inns of England series hang in the billiard room.

The gardens were designated as a "five star" Garden of National Significance by the New Zealand Gardens Trust in 2014. There is an Edwardian style glasshouse, a potager, and holly and camellia hedges. The gardens contain a number of significant red, black and copper beech trees. In 2022 a significant large red beech had to be removed to protect a neighbouring property. The gardens are free to access between 9 and 5 daily. A garage was added to the property in 1915. The family's original 1921 Fiat 510 Tourer was returned to the house in 1994 and is now on display.