History

A SHORT HISTORY OF PEN-Y-BRYN

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Designed by the firm of Forrester & Lemon and built in 1889 for John Bulleid (1851-1910), Pen-y-bryn is purportedly the largest single ­storeyed home in the South Island with the main building being over nine thousand square feet. 

Pen-y-bryn is Welsh for “top of the hill”, and family legend gives credence to the tale that the wife of John Bulleid’s brother William, who had come out from Wales as a bride to live in lnvercargill, suggested the name. As some of John Bulleid’s forebears also were Welsh, this seems likely. The Oamaru hilltop setting provides excellent mountain, country and ocean views, and its site alone is a statement, realising the careful use of the trajectory of the sun as it led its residents through the house during the day.  The original property incorporated not only almost the whole of the block on which the house stood, but also the whole block to the west reaching as far as the park. This area was used to run the carriage horses and children’s ponies and was leased from the Town Council. The bottom of this area, which is now the site of the tennis courts, was flooded and planted with willows to make a charming little lake.

John Bulleid was the owner of a large department store and importing business in Oamaru. Both he and his wife Fanny had had access to nice surroundings before leaving England and wished to replicate, and improve on, their conditions. Photos on the hallway wall show John & Fanny Bulleid on their wedding day, and the interior of his shop at the turn of the century, as well as some views of the house at that time. As some of the trees were quite mature when moved into position after the house was built, they are significantly older than the residence.

John Bulleid and his family owned the property for 34 years, and his mark was clear in the design and function of the building. In 1892 he left New Zealand with his wife and three children for a tour of Europe, and to visit family in England. They were to be away for four years. During that time, in addition to engaging a buying representative in London, he and his wife purchased fine furniture and fittings for their house, and a large number of lovely watercolours, etchings and ornaments with which to adorn their home. Some months were spent in central Italy, and pictures and relics from Pompeii and its environs were also acquired.

A few years after John Bulleid’s death, his widow Fanny moved out, and John’s son, John Maurice Bulleid, took over the property in 1919/20. He redesigned the gardens, built walls and pergolas, moved the entry from the northeast to the northwest corner of the garden, and, having opened the rear wall of the hall with leaded glass doors, enclosed part of the backyard, forming a pleasant courtyard between what was the kitchen wing and the bathroom. As it had been the site of rain-water tanks, it was a considerable improvement.  He also built the westernmost wing as a bedroom for his three sons.  This early addition to the house is constructed of heart rimu.

John Maurice also replaced some of the floors with parquet and extended the oak paneling into the side halls. The bathroom was also renovated at that time, the bath being made of hollow section porcelain and the shower having three vertical sprays in addition to an overhead spray.

In 1922 the property was sold at auction to James McDiarmid, the Mayor of Oamaru, who, followed by his family, were in residence for the next seventy-three years. It was then sold and refurbished as a Lodge in the 1990s and was purchased by the current owners, James Glucksman and James Boussy, in 2010.

An east-to-west tour of the house begins in what is now the owners’ quarters. In that area, the tin ceilings are original, but what is now a bedroom and an office was once a large single breakfast room, capturing the morning sun as it cleared the Pacific. The McDiarmid family divided this into two rooms, forming a breakfast room and a bedroom.

The family kitchen was once the only kitchen, with a scullery and storerooms opening off it to the south. Cooking was performed on a large coal range. The drapes in the hall at the entrance to the owner’s quarters are original, and are the only drapes remaining from the 1880’s.  The headlight etched glass panes at the end of the hall are unique with their origin unknown.

At the east end of the hall there is a door which does not open and cannot be seen from the outside.  It is believed that this was to be an entrance, but after it was built it was realized that the unfavourable weather came from the ocean and the door was deemed unnecessary.

In the Drawing Room, most of the furniture is of recent vintage, however the china cabinet next to the table is an original piece from 1888. The backing of this cabinet is the same material that lines the lower walls in the dining room (lyncrusta). The smaller dining table in the Dining Room and the recovered chairs in the Drawing Room are original to the house and date from the late 1880’s.  And the side table is also original to the house.  The Bulleids purchased the chandelier during their time in Italy.

The McDiarmids used the Drawing Room as their dining room, with meals prepared in the kitchen being carried to a large sideboard in the hall. The Vannini family purchased the sideboard that is a feature of the Drawing Room from Eleanor Bulleid, granddaughter of John Bulleid, but is not original to the property. However, the ceiling detail and the woodwork are. The large picture window was modified in 1967 to eliminate the vertical wooden columns, which remain in the other windows. This modification required the permission of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, as the building is a Category One Historic Building, and is of national significance.

As the sun moves to the north, it warms the front sun room, enclosed in the 1950’s and used by Mrs. McDiarmid, Sr. At the time he sun and the fireplaces were the only source of heat, and thus during the day the residents would move from room to room to take advantage of the warmth.

The Entrance Hall is completely original, except for the rear leadlighted doors and the Chinese cabinet. The pictures, light fittings and ornately carved furniture are all original.

The Dining Room displays a number of John Bulleid’s European purchases, and was originally used as the Drawing Room. The plaster ceiling was commissioned in Florence and shipped to Oamaru in wooden crates. It is a suspended plaster ceiling and is held up by a large number of wires and stays. Reports are that the crates were six months at sea, yet they arrived complete and intact.  The round French card table (c.1800) and the “Lady Lamp” were purchased and shipped from France.  Note the holes in the foot of each table leg used to peg the piece to its crate for the voyage.

As the sun moves to the west, the windows of the Dining Room provide warmth and light for the afternoon and early evening. The stained glass windows above the west windows are copies of the windows in the English home of Alfred Lord Tennyson.  While the drapes are a recent addition, the brass rod is original.  The bookcase lining the opposite wall was constructed in London of English white oak to the measurements John Bulleid took from the drawings of the house, and when the pieces were assembled, they were a perfect fit and required no trimming. The bookcase contains some magnificent books from the Bulleid era and the McDiarmid’s. The fireplace was carved in Italy and the light fittings are all original, though now converted to electricity. The piano, a recent addition to the property, is an1866 Collard & Collard.

The Lodge kitchen in the Bulleids’ time was the master bedroom, and the Victoria Guest Room was the adjoining nursery. The McDiarmids changed these to accommodate their growing family needs. Hence what is now the Lodge kitchen became a sitting room with an adjoining kitchen in what is now the ensuite for the Victoria Room.

Across the hall the Elizabeth Guest Room was originally the maid’s room with access directly to the outside. The bathroom was entered from the hall and was originally made up of what is now the pantry/store room, office and ensuite.   The McDiarmids modified the bathroom, enclosing the office, which was used as a TV room. The McDiarmid children were taught to swim in the bath which gives an indication of its size.

The lady visitors’ toilet was originally a large linen press and the gentlemen’s one, a small water closet.  There was no external access, the walnut door being a recent addition.

The Library became an anteroom when the west bedroom was built in 1920, and although it was a bedroom for a time in the 1930’s, leads to the Billiard Room.  The Library was well stocked with beautifully bound books and was furnished with a table and chair for serious reading.

The Billiard Room was originally a bedroom for the three Bulleid boys, John, George and Victor, with the lights on the walls indicating the location of their beds. The fireplace is a magnificent structure of immense proportions matching the size of the room.

Built in 1915, the Billiard Table was built originally for the New Zealand Government for Parliament, but on receipt of the three tables ordered, it was found that only two would fit comfortably, thus the third table was purchased by James McDiarmid and later installed in Pen-y-bryn. An Oamaru stone pile supports each leg, and Italian slate is used in the construction of the playing surface. The leaded doors at the end of the Billiard Room are the original wardrobe, in which there is an external window to allow light to shine into the wardrobe as well as to show the features of the glass. The bay window at the end of the room captures the afternoon sun.

The Oamaru stone loft consisted of the garden shed, photographic darkroom, gun-room, water closet for workmen and gardeners, as well as the laundry and boiler room. At the east end it accommodated the coach and later the family car. There was also a room for the generation of electricity, as there was no town supply until early in the 1920s.

A water-driven turbine, known as a ‘Pelton Wheel’, generated the power for the property.  One of these was also installed in the cellar of the Bulleids’ shop and was driven by water from the street main.  It required a 3-inch (75mm) pipe to supply enough water and the discharge wen into a well-like hole in the cellar, whence it ran through shingle out into the sea.

The Loft was gutted by fire in 1925, the conflagration starting in the laundry. Upstairs, the Loft has been converted to three guest rooms with ensuites, with downstairs garages, storeroom, wine cellar and anther bedroom used by the family. As a result of the fire and subsequent rebuilding, some of the internal Oamaru stone displays the painted Tudor effect that the building once displayed to match the main building.

The gardens now cover 1.5 acres, much reduced from its original size.  The gardens were designed by renowned Colonial Landscape Gardener, Alfred Buxton. In the hallway of the Oamaru stone loft, there are photographs of some parts of the once extensive gardens. The pergolas that are shown in the photographs still remain today in some of the neighbouring gardens.

 

Grateful thanks to Victor Bulleid (grandson of the original owner) who proof read and supplied much of the information.  Updated July 2010.

 

 

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