10/12/2024
Selection of an appropriate architect is clearly fundamental to the project of successfully conceiving and building a new home. When David and Marie Theomin came to choose an architect to create what would become Olveston, they originally considered commissioning Canadian Charles John Gibson of Toronto, going so far as to have plans drawn up by him. These are on view at Olveston and make for an interesting comparison with the house that was ultimately built, as we well know, according to the designs of London-based Ernest George.
But do we realise just how renowned an architect Ernest George was in 1903 when the Theomins made him their choice? That he was knighted just 9 years later for services to art and architecture is an indication of his professional stature. He was also honoured as a Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medallist, Royal Academician, Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, member of the Royal Society of British Arts, and of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, an institution whose origins are owed to William Morris. He served as RIBA president for two terms between 1908 and 1910.
Beginning his architectural training in 1856, by the time George retired in 1921 (at the age of 82) he had been in practice for nearly 60 years, almost always in partnership, first with Thomas Vaughan, subsequently with Harold Ainsworth Peto and, finally, by the time he was working on plans for Olveston, with Alfred Bowman Yeates. By the mid-1870s, George was no longer “an up-and-coming young man” but a well-established practitioner with commissions from such illustrious clients as the Dukes of Wellington and Westminster. By the 1890s, he had become famed as England’s foremost architect of domestic spaces, making a special art of combining functionality with aesthetics to create beautiful, highly practical homes by cleverly incorporating modern, state-of-the-art technology into structures inspired by the long and rich tradition of English-country-house design. Together with Peto, George designed more than two dozen country homes, and altered, restored and created additions to many more. His clients came from the landed gentry, and from those, like David Theomin, whose success in the trades, industry and professions, had brought wealth and upper middle-class aspirations.
Of special significance to us among George’s designs is that of his own home, Redroofs, on Streatham Common. Built between 1887 and 1888, it clearly has elements in common with Olveston, particularly the use of decorative Dutch gables.
Join us on a 2-hour Architectural Tour to find out more about Olveston’s famous architect, and how he collaborated closely with David and Marie Theomin in the design of this unique home.
The next Architectural tour is on Tuesday 17th December 2024.
Architectural tours are held 3rd Tuesday of the month from 3.00pm to 5.00pm.
Organisations or Private groups can book at other times to suit.
Cost: $46.00 per person. Bookings essential.
Ph: 03 477 3320 or Email: [email protected] to make a booking.
Olveston historic home is an authentic historic experience in the heart of Dunedin.
Article prepared by Tracy White, Operations Supervisor, at Olveston Historic Home
Acknowledgement: Image of Redroofs from “The Architecture of Sir Ernest George” by Hilary J. Grainger (Squire Books, 2011).
