The following text is taken from Evelyn
Lyle Kalças’s book, ‘Gateways to the past – Houses and gardens
of Old Bornova’, printed in Izmir in 1983. She was an Australian national
who spent many years in Turkey and writing numerous short books on various
subjects such as analysis of the coat of arms still to be seen in St Peter’s
crusader castle in Bodrum, medicinal plants of the Aegean, and a homage
to the island of her late husband Homer’s island of family heritage in
the Aegean. She died in 1998 and is buried next to her husband in the
tiny Greek Orthodox cemetery within the outskirts of Izmir in Altındağ.
An obituary appeared in the local newspaper Yeni Asır, under the
heading ‘May your soil be plentiful’. Self financed the book runs were
all limited and are now highly sought after by the community, despite
the fact that I was told the Bornova book contained slight errors. The
description of this house is one of 35 of the more prominent Levantine
properties, all accompanied by a moderate quality photo. It remains as
the first serious study of the properties of Bornova, and the book has
been translated into Turkish, and recently (2004) been expanded.
The Paterson house:
The original owner, John Paterson, was a corn merchant from Leith, Scotland. He established himself in Smyrna and was connected with a number of business enterprises by 1859, that of mining being particularly remunerative. John Paterson is said to have been the first to discover chrome in Turkey, in the Fethiye district.
The Paterson house was really a showpiece with thirty-eight rooms built on a property of about 133 acres, half of which was used for racecourse stud purposes. John Paterson had a mania for alteration and the façade of the house as shown in the photograph, was altered no less than seven times.
Most of the once attractive wooded garden with the surrounding parkland is being transformed for sub-division in to building blocks. At the time of writing, remains could still be seen of two greenhouses, the larger one being backed by what appeared like a battlemented wall near the former piggery.
One unusual feature of the garden that still remained was the Gazebo, a typical retreat in gardens of the last century. In appearance it is merely a pile of stones built into a somewhat pyramidal shape. This was ascended by means of an iron ladder and was surmounted by seats sufficient for several persons. At a height of about fifteen feet and being surrounded by shady trees, it was a cool summer retreat.
In the 38 rooms there are many special features, the materials of most having been imported from England. The two huge crystal chandeliers worth 75.000 Turkish liras apiece at the time of demolition, have been presented to the local mosque. The iron stair balustrade worth 500,000 liras, had also come from England, and the stairwell itself was lit by coloured lead-light windows set with odd pieces of antique English ‘bottle-glass’. The glass in the large double doors was fully one inch thick.
To the right of the stairs was a large ballroom decorated with lovely pastel-toned cornices typical of that period, but it was the dining-room that really caught the eye. Here the walls were covered by wallpaper of a gleaming gold-embossed design.
One living room had a unique fireplace of iron, set with six or eight adjustable doors. Bedrooms were equipped with marble wash-basins, each set in a corner on a base of moulded iron, and having a lovely tile surround of water-lily design. The kitchen was really enormous, one entire wall being taken up by a huge range bordered by Dutch tiles, having a central control and a built-in grill.
Though the house has not been lived in by members of the Paterson family since 1963, as four of the last members now reside in England, grand pianos – four of them, one a Steinway and one a Broadwood – remained in the mansion until 1972.
The last occupants of the house were members of a Nato force whose office it was for about five years, and who installed a central heating system in their quarters.
In 1973 this mansion of 38 rooms was in the course of partial demolition and conversion into a carpet factory owned by the Süsler firm. At the time of writer’s visit, heavy machines were being installed in second floor rooms and the striking thing was that the original flooring of eighteen-inch wide boards was apparently still strong enough to carry the great weight of these machines.
Note: Additional information courtesy of Humerya Birol Akkurt, an architect and researcher on 'the architectural expression of the European society in the suburbs of Izmir'.
It is believed that the building was constructed in the second half of the 19th century. Even though the building was in a reasonable shape till the 1980s it is now in a state of ruin. It was nearly completely destroyed in a fire in the 80s. Later there was an attempt by the culture ministry to affect a restoration with the eventual aim of providing a venue for cultural events. However a series of problems that arose between the Ministry-developer-Municipality triangle, and the work was cut short. However the latest is that the dossier is now back on the desk of the Ministry with the promise of resumption of the restoration work.
The enclosed photo shows the building post restoration, but the extensive use of reinforced concrete has resulted in a building that is structurally sound, but one that has lost its distinctive look.
The address of the house is Mustafa Kemal cad, in Bornova.
Note: Additional information derived from the Bornova council web-site:
Construction was started by John Paterson in 1859. The mansion was used as a military headquarters (Turkish presumably) during the 1919-22 war, so after Sept 1922. This is contradicted by Edward de Jongh. The building is listed to the 1st degree [birinci derecede sit alani], and the initial restoration was undertaken by the mare of Izmir, Kutlu Aktas beginning in 1991, but left unfinished. Once approval by the Heritage commission [Anıtlar yüksek kurulu] was issued in 2001, Izmir municipality leased the building and surrounding 54.000 m2 for 49 years. The grounds have been landscaped, a café-bar installed, ornamental pool restored and renovation work in the building is continuing with the eventual aim of providing a cultural centre used by the Izmir and Bornova councils.
Note: Additional information derived from an article published in the Izmir paper, Yeni Asir on 8-April 1990, penned by Yaşar Aksoy, here much abridged.
The crying mansion: Paterson
Levantines preferred vacating their quarter of Punta in favour of Bornova where they had space to create a European vision of living. One of the most imposing of these, the Paterson house was burnt 2 and half years ago by unknown people. The two side buildings survived the fire, the left one with an imposing frontage, and the right hand one with a tower 4 stories high. The middle section has completely collapsed, with just the shell of the ground floor walls still standing. Set within 58 acres, and covering 600 m. squared, had 36 rooms.
There were sections for the kitchens, servants, green-houses, barns, pig sties, and facilities for race horses, the Patersons were keen on. The frontage of the house was changed at least 7 times, with most of the building materials imported from Europe. The lighting for the stairway spaces was provided by leaded lights, and the double opening main doors had glass with the thickness of 2 and a half centimetres. After the cast iron banisters of the stairs, one entered the dance hall. The wall paper of the dining room had gold leaf, each bedroom had its own luxurious sink unit. The tower was covered in tiles, looking like an Islamic monument. A side of the extensive kitchen had a Dutch imported fitted oven and hop unit.
The building suffered losses well before the fire, especially during the tenure of former council head Nasit Kilic, who broke the outer walls with a road construction, and all items of value including fire places, carpets and furniture were carted off one by one. The chandelier is now in the Bornova mosque, the 3 piece sweet are now with the dentist Ayse Mayda, and the front doors with the Istanbul ‘horsed’ mansion of Sakip Sabanci.
One of the former servants of the Paterson household, Fatma Demirci, described Mr Paterson as very generous, and kind who lived with his wife and sister and whose son now lives in England. He had separate walking sticks and top hats for all his around 30 fine suits. In the 1930s when there was a flood of the Bornova stream, Mr Paterson opened his doors to the now homeless, including the mother of Fatma with her children who were all fed there. Apart from me, there was as workers there, Kavas Ibrahim, the doorman, Zeynep hanim the tailor and cleaner, the cook the Greek Marko who had to depart to Greece with the 1967 events. Gypsy Sabri would come twice a week to polish the floors. Mr Paterson had many visitors, such as his friend the head of Arkas shipping, John Arcas, Madame Balyani, Madame Charnaud, the cat lover Madame Audrey wife of Bill Giraud, the Pajis, Edmond Giraud, Geoffrey Charles etc. They used to race horses with Bill Giraud, of Mitilini [Lesbos] stock. The garden had a range of mature trees and European imported black tulips. When Nasit Kilic knocked down the walls, people raced with each other to cut down the trees, and remove the maybe 500 carpets there, as when Mrs Paterson left, she only took her suitcases. The fireplaces where gold plated, there were marble seats, and a billiards room where the curtains had gold thread. I didn’t remove anything from the house. Mr Paterson went to England on a business trip and never returned and the family followed him soon afterwards in 1958. The mansion was used by the NATO commander for 7 years afterwards. It was used as a carpet factory later and in 1973 the owner of the factory, Hamdi Boyaci, bought the mansion. In 1974 the mansion was listed by the ‘Anitlar yuksek kurulu’ [heritage commission] and was later nationalised for 10 million TL by the Culture and tourism ministry. When the fire took place, the appeal for the compensation of nationalisation court case was continuing, raising questions of motive, as the land is worth a fortune.
The Belhomme house (from E.L. Kalças book)
What is now in use as Bornova health centre was previously called the Belhomme or Xenopoulou house. It was built in 1880 by an English architect named Wolf, who also constructed the Aliberti house.
The first owner appears to have been a Mr Xenopoulou, from whom it was inherited by the grandfather of the last owner, Mme Helene Armand, who recently retired for her post in public relations with UNESCO in Paris. Her mother was one of the McCraith Belhomme family.
The house has an attractive façade, showing columns topped with fine bracket capitals.
Note: Additional information derived from the Bornova council web-site.
The name of the architect here is given as Clark. It states Helene Armand restored the restoration of the house ‘in the near past’. The house received another restoration by the Bornova council (then under head Aysel Bayraktar) in 1997, and currently serves as the council ‘Ataturk’ library.
The Murat house (from book)
What is known as the Murat house which is situated opposite the Anglican church, was once a beautiful mansion. As it was uninhabited for many years it gradually fell into decay and its fine iron railings on the street frontage are disappearing one by one.
Now all passers-by are pleased to see that it is being restored by the government. It is said that this building will be used as an administrative centre for the adjoining boys’ orphanage.
It was built by one of the Edwards, an English family, in 1880, and said to have been lived in by Bari, before the Edwards sisters occupied it for a time. It was later sold to the Murat family, a daughter of whom now lives in Athens.
A picture seen by a Bornova resident when she visited the home of one of the Edwards family at Lausanne, shows the house with a lovely garden in which the entire Edwards family is seated. Little of the garden, only some fine cedars and a few palms, can now be seen. Even the stork which used to nest annually on top of the largest cedar has recently deserted the site. In a corner of the garden a private hamam is still recognizable.
The house was of recent years used as a barracks by an Italian team of workmen setting up a high tension cable over the Manisa mountain to the Central at Mersinli.
The Murat house is said to be haunted by a maid carrying a tray. There is no record of the origin of the ghostly maid, or as to how many appearances she has made on the scene.
However the ghost has apparently no effect on the squatters who once occupied parts of that once magnificent mansion.
Note: Additional information courtesy of Humerya Birol Akkurt
The property is owned by the child protection agency [çocuk esirgeme kurumu] that has recently (2002) relinquished control to the Izmir council with the stipulation of it being used for public, particularly the young, use. With this in mind the council applied to The 9th September University, architectural faculty, restoration section, which has compiled a plan based on written records and analysis of the building. Altered sections were brought to their former state. The extensive renovation includes the Turkish bath house in the garden, all done to high detail. Even the colour of the external walls and shutters are decided after much discussion as period photographs on which many details are determined are in black and white.
The Paterson house:
The original owner, John Paterson, was a corn merchant from Leith, Scotland. He established himself in Smyrna and was connected with a number of business enterprises by 1859, that of mining being particularly remunerative. John Paterson is said to have been the first to discover chrome in Turkey, in the Fethiye district.
The Paterson house was really a showpiece with thirty-eight rooms built on a property of about 133 acres, half of which was used for racecourse stud purposes. John Paterson had a mania for alteration and the façade of the house as shown in the photograph, was altered no less than seven times.
Most of the once attractive wooded garden with the surrounding parkland is being transformed for sub-division in to building blocks. At the time of writing, remains could still be seen of two greenhouses, the larger one being backed by what appeared like a battlemented wall near the former piggery.
One unusual feature of the garden that still remained was the Gazebo, a typical retreat in gardens of the last century. In appearance it is merely a pile of stones built into a somewhat pyramidal shape. This was ascended by means of an iron ladder and was surmounted by seats sufficient for several persons. At a height of about fifteen feet and being surrounded by shady trees, it was a cool summer retreat.
In the 38 rooms there are many special features, the materials of most having been imported from England. The two huge crystal chandeliers worth 75.000 Turkish liras apiece at the time of demolition, have been presented to the local mosque. The iron stair balustrade worth 500,000 liras, had also come from England, and the stairwell itself was lit by coloured lead-light windows set with odd pieces of antique English ‘bottle-glass’. The glass in the large double doors was fully one inch thick.
To the right of the stairs was a large ballroom decorated with lovely pastel-toned cornices typical of that period, but it was the dining-room that really caught the eye. Here the walls were covered by wallpaper of a gleaming gold-embossed design.
One living room had a unique fireplace of iron, set with six or eight adjustable doors. Bedrooms were equipped with marble wash-basins, each set in a corner on a base of moulded iron, and having a lovely tile surround of water-lily design. The kitchen was really enormous, one entire wall being taken up by a huge range bordered by Dutch tiles, having a central control and a built-in grill.
Though the house has not been lived in by members of the Paterson family since 1963, as four of the last members now reside in England, grand pianos – four of them, one a Steinway and one a Broadwood – remained in the mansion until 1972.
The last occupants of the house were members of a Nato force whose office it was for about five years, and who installed a central heating system in their quarters.
In 1973 this mansion of 38 rooms was in the course of partial demolition and conversion into a carpet factory owned by the Süsler firm. At the time of writer’s visit, heavy machines were being installed in second floor rooms and the striking thing was that the original flooring of eighteen-inch wide boards was apparently still strong enough to carry the great weight of these machines.
Note: Additional information courtesy of Humerya Birol Akkurt, an architect and researcher on 'the architectural expression of the European society in the suburbs of Izmir'.
It is believed that the building was constructed in the second half of the 19th century. Even though the building was in a reasonable shape till the 1980s it is now in a state of ruin. It was nearly completely destroyed in a fire in the 80s. Later there was an attempt by the culture ministry to affect a restoration with the eventual aim of providing a venue for cultural events. However a series of problems that arose between the Ministry-developer-Municipality triangle, and the work was cut short. However the latest is that the dossier is now back on the desk of the Ministry with the promise of resumption of the restoration work.
The enclosed photo shows the building post restoration, but the extensive use of reinforced concrete has resulted in a building that is structurally sound, but one that has lost its distinctive look.
The address of the house is Mustafa Kemal cad, in Bornova.
Note: Additional information derived from the Bornova council web-site:
Construction was started by John Paterson in 1859. The mansion was used as a military headquarters (Turkish presumably) during the 1919-22 war, so after Sept 1922. This is contradicted by Edward de Jongh. The building is listed to the 1st degree [birinci derecede sit alani], and the initial restoration was undertaken by the mare of Izmir, Kutlu Aktas beginning in 1991, but left unfinished. Once approval by the Heritage commission [Anıtlar yüksek kurulu] was issued in 2001, Izmir municipality leased the building and surrounding 54.000 m2 for 49 years. The grounds have been landscaped, a café-bar installed, ornamental pool restored and renovation work in the building is continuing with the eventual aim of providing a cultural centre used by the Izmir and Bornova councils.
Note: Additional information derived from an article published in the Izmir paper, Yeni Asir on 8-April 1990, penned by Yaşar Aksoy, here much abridged.
The crying mansion: Paterson
Levantines preferred vacating their quarter of Punta in favour of Bornova where they had space to create a European vision of living. One of the most imposing of these, the Paterson house was burnt 2 and half years ago by unknown people. The two side buildings survived the fire, the left one with an imposing frontage, and the right hand one with a tower 4 stories high. The middle section has completely collapsed, with just the shell of the ground floor walls still standing. Set within 58 acres, and covering 600 m. squared, had 36 rooms.
There were sections for the kitchens, servants, green-houses, barns, pig sties, and facilities for race horses, the Patersons were keen on. The frontage of the house was changed at least 7 times, with most of the building materials imported from Europe. The lighting for the stairway spaces was provided by leaded lights, and the double opening main doors had glass with the thickness of 2 and a half centimetres. After the cast iron banisters of the stairs, one entered the dance hall. The wall paper of the dining room had gold leaf, each bedroom had its own luxurious sink unit. The tower was covered in tiles, looking like an Islamic monument. A side of the extensive kitchen had a Dutch imported fitted oven and hop unit.
The building suffered losses well before the fire, especially during the tenure of former council head Nasit Kilic, who broke the outer walls with a road construction, and all items of value including fire places, carpets and furniture were carted off one by one. The chandelier is now in the Bornova mosque, the 3 piece sweet are now with the dentist Ayse Mayda, and the front doors with the Istanbul ‘horsed’ mansion of Sakip Sabanci.
One of the former servants of the Paterson household, Fatma Demirci, described Mr Paterson as very generous, and kind who lived with his wife and sister and whose son now lives in England. He had separate walking sticks and top hats for all his around 30 fine suits. In the 1930s when there was a flood of the Bornova stream, Mr Paterson opened his doors to the now homeless, including the mother of Fatma with her children who were all fed there. Apart from me, there was as workers there, Kavas Ibrahim, the doorman, Zeynep hanim the tailor and cleaner, the cook the Greek Marko who had to depart to Greece with the 1967 events. Gypsy Sabri would come twice a week to polish the floors. Mr Paterson had many visitors, such as his friend the head of Arkas shipping, John Arcas, Madame Balyani, Madame Charnaud, the cat lover Madame Audrey wife of Bill Giraud, the Pajis, Edmond Giraud, Geoffrey Charles etc. They used to race horses with Bill Giraud, of Mitilini [Lesbos] stock. The garden had a range of mature trees and European imported black tulips. When Nasit Kilic knocked down the walls, people raced with each other to cut down the trees, and remove the maybe 500 carpets there, as when Mrs Paterson left, she only took her suitcases. The fireplaces where gold plated, there were marble seats, and a billiards room where the curtains had gold thread. I didn’t remove anything from the house. Mr Paterson went to England on a business trip and never returned and the family followed him soon afterwards in 1958. The mansion was used by the NATO commander for 7 years afterwards. It was used as a carpet factory later and in 1973 the owner of the factory, Hamdi Boyaci, bought the mansion. In 1974 the mansion was listed by the ‘Anitlar yuksek kurulu’ [heritage commission] and was later nationalised for 10 million TL by the Culture and tourism ministry. When the fire took place, the appeal for the compensation of nationalisation court case was continuing, raising questions of motive, as the land is worth a fortune.
The Belhomme house (from E.L. Kalças book)
What is now in use as Bornova health centre was previously called the Belhomme or Xenopoulou house. It was built in 1880 by an English architect named Wolf, who also constructed the Aliberti house.
The first owner appears to have been a Mr Xenopoulou, from whom it was inherited by the grandfather of the last owner, Mme Helene Armand, who recently retired for her post in public relations with UNESCO in Paris. Her mother was one of the McCraith Belhomme family.
The house has an attractive façade, showing columns topped with fine bracket capitals.
Note: Additional information derived from the Bornova council web-site.
The name of the architect here is given as Clark. It states Helene Armand restored the restoration of the house ‘in the near past’. The house received another restoration by the Bornova council (then under head Aysel Bayraktar) in 1997, and currently serves as the council ‘Ataturk’ library.
The Murat house (from book)
What is known as the Murat house which is situated opposite the Anglican church, was once a beautiful mansion. As it was uninhabited for many years it gradually fell into decay and its fine iron railings on the street frontage are disappearing one by one.
Now all passers-by are pleased to see that it is being restored by the government. It is said that this building will be used as an administrative centre for the adjoining boys’ orphanage.
It was built by one of the Edwards, an English family, in 1880, and said to have been lived in by Bari, before the Edwards sisters occupied it for a time. It was later sold to the Murat family, a daughter of whom now lives in Athens.
A picture seen by a Bornova resident when she visited the home of one of the Edwards family at Lausanne, shows the house with a lovely garden in which the entire Edwards family is seated. Little of the garden, only some fine cedars and a few palms, can now be seen. Even the stork which used to nest annually on top of the largest cedar has recently deserted the site. In a corner of the garden a private hamam is still recognizable.
The house was of recent years used as a barracks by an Italian team of workmen setting up a high tension cable over the Manisa mountain to the Central at Mersinli.
The Murat house is said to be haunted by a maid carrying a tray. There is no record of the origin of the ghostly maid, or as to how many appearances she has made on the scene.
However the ghost has apparently no effect on the squatters who once occupied parts of that once magnificent mansion.
Note: Additional information courtesy of Humerya Birol Akkurt
The property is owned by the child protection agency [çocuk esirgeme kurumu] that has recently (2002) relinquished control to the Izmir council with the stipulation of it being used for public, particularly the young, use. With this in mind the council applied to The 9th September University, architectural faculty, restoration section, which has compiled a plan based on written records and analysis of the building. Altered sections were brought to their former state. The extensive renovation includes the Turkish bath house in the garden, all done to high detail. Even the colour of the external walls and shutters are decided after much discussion as period photographs on which many details are determined are in black and white.