Larnach Castle
Larnach Castle in Dunedin , New Zealand , is an industrialist mansion from the second half of the 19th century. The villa, of New Zealanders like to be the only castle ( Castle hereinafter) of New Zealand, is located about 15 km from the center of Dunedin located on one of the hills of the Otago Peninsula , with an impressive panoramic view of Otago Harbor , the Pacific Ocean and the peninsula itself .
Larnach Castle, named after its owner William Larnach (1833-1898), banker, businessman and politician, was built in three years from 1871 by the New Zealand architect Robert Lawson (1833-1902) and in 1874 Larnach's family moved in.
After the villa was completed, it was praised as one of the most elegant and impressive private houses in New Zealand. The architecture of Larnach Castle is occasionally assigned to the Scottish baronial style . But that is not entirely true, because the villa with the combination of a central section reminiscent of a Gothic residential tower and the glazed verandas with cast-iron girders on both sides is a typical building of the Victorian era . Only the central facade with the cornices , the tall, narrow windows, the crenellated crown and the small observation tower on the flat roof give the villa its castle-like appearance. The interior of the building was no less elaborate. Marble from Italy , stone from Aberdeen , Venetian glass, exotic woods and artisans brought from Europe showed that not just any house should be built here. 200 men worked on the villa for three years, and it would take another twelve years to complete the interior. As a present for his daughter Kate's 21st birthday in 1884 , Larnach added a 280 square meter ballroom to the villa . It was publicly estimated at the time that the cost of the villa must have been around £ 150,000 .
After Larnach's suicide on October 12, 1898, the villa was auctioned off in 1900 with all belongings and used as a rest home for nuns . In 1906, Larnach Castle became government property and was used as a hospital until 1918. After that, unused, the property was exposed to vandalism . In 1927 the Purdie family bought the property, restored the villa and used it as an antiques exhibition . Without being used any more, the property changed hands three more times from 1939 until the Barker family finally bought the property with the now dilapidated villa in 1967 . The villa has been restored with great attention to detail; an attempt was made to restore it to its original state. Today Larnach Castle is not only one of the most famous tourist attractions in Dunedin and New Zealand, it has also become a luxury hostel and venue for all kinds of events .
See also
literature
- Hardwicke Knight : The Ordeal of William Larnach . Allied Press Ltd. , Dunedin 1981, ISBN 0-86466-000-6 (English).
- Fleur Snedden : King of the Castle - A Biography of William Larnach . David Batemann Ltd. , Auckland 1997, ISBN 1-86953-353-4 (English).
- Larnach Castle . In: New Zealand Encyclopedia . 5th edition. David Bateman Ltd. , Auckland 2000 (English).
Web links
- Larnach Castle. Historic Place Category 1. In: New Zealand Heritage List / Rārangi Kōrero . Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga , July 27, 1988, accessed September 23, 2019 .
- Homepage . Larnach Castle,accessed December 25, 2015.
- Discover New Zealand's only Castle, built in 1871 by William Larnach . Visit Dunedin, archived from the original onOctober 6, 2012; accessed on December 25, 2015(English, original website no longer available).
- Larnach's Castle . Te Ara-the Encyclopedia of New Zealand,accessed July 15, 2010.
Coordinates: 45 ° 51 ′ 23 ″ S , 170 ° 37 ′ 16 ″ O