Dunedin - Olveston

To the west of the Otago Museum, in the city's green belt, is the mansion of Olveston (1906), designed by the English architect Ernest George. Its first owner was David E Theomin, a businessman and art collector who came from Olveston, near Bristol, and settled in Dunedin in 1879.

This sumptuous 35-room mansion in late Victorian style gives some impression of the way of life of the prosperous middle class in the early 20th C. The oak staircase and balustrade were made in England. There are numerous paintings illustrating many aspects of life in colonial New Zealand.