Ayers House is the present-day name for a historic mansion on
North Terrace,
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. It is named after
Sir Henry Ayers, five times
Premier of South Australia
The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...
and wealthy industrialist, who occupied it from 1855 until 1897. It is the only mansion on North Terrace to have survived. The house has been listed on the
South Australian Heritage Register
The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...
since July 1980.
History
Plans for the two-storey mansion, which for the greater part of its existence was named Austral House, were developed in 1846 for
William Paxton William Paxton may refer to:
Politicians
* William F. Paxton (born 1946), American politician from Kentucky
* William A. Paxton (1837–1907), American politician and businessman from Nebraska
* Sir William Paxton (British businessman) (1744–1 ...
, an Adelaide chemist. It is constructed of local
bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:
* basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand
* dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge)
* felds ...
and is
Regency period
The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between and 1837. King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 1810 and, by the Regency Act 1811, h ...
in style, thought to have been designed by
George Strickland Kingston
Sir George Strickland Kingston (23 August 1807 – 26 November 1880) was the Deputy Surveyor to William Light, engaged to survey the new colony of South Australia. He arrived in South Australia on the in 1836. Kingston was also the first Spea ...
, who interpreted the work of
Robert Kerr, a leading architect of the period in Britain.
In 1855, Sir Henry Ayers leased the property when it was a 9-room brick house. He transformed it into a 40-room mansion mainly during the 1860s; it was finally completed in 1876. It is well preserved. Internally, the rooms feature hand-painted ceilings, stencilled woodwork and memorabilia from the Ayers family, demonstrating the wealth of the owners at the time it was built. Ayers also commissioned a
basement
A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...
to escape the hot Adelaide summers. During its owner's parliamentary service, the house was the venue for cabinet meetings, parliamentary dinners and grand balls. It was one of the first properties in Adelaide to be fitted with
gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
lighting.
The names given to many of the rooms, and their functions, were revealed in notes made by Sir Henry when he recorded the temperatures in various places in the house during Adelaide's very hot weather. The first such record was dated 1874.
Use
In 1897 Ayers died, and in 1909, following an
Adelaide Club
The Adelaide Club is an exclusive gentlemen's club situated on North Terrace in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. Founded in 1863, the club comprises members of the Adelaide Establishment.
South Australian Club (1838–1843)
An ea ...
ball at the house,
Henry Newland
Henry Newland ( – 7 March 1862) was an Anglican clergyman in the Church of Ireland. He was the incumbent at Gorey and Dean of Ferns from 1842 until his death at age 66."Births, Deaths, Marriages and Obituaries" ''Freeman's Journal
The '' ...
proposed the club purchase the property. Plans were drawn up then abandoned. Eventually, it was sold in 1914 to Arthur John Walkley and Henry Woodcock's company, Austral Gardens Ltd. They built a dance hall, "The Palais Royal", on its western side and entertainment areas on the east. Since then, the house has had many uses, including a club for injured soldiers from 1918 to 1922, and an open-air café from 1914 to 1932.
The
Government of South Australia
The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...
bought the property in 1926 for nurse accommodation and training – it was opposite the now-closed
Adelaide Hospital. Further dormitories, built in 1946, were removed in 1973. The house was closed as nurses' quarters in 1969, after a new residential wing was built at the back of the hospital.
In the 1960s, the
National Trust of South Australia
The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...
campaigned successfully to save the building from demolition since it was "the last of the grand mansions of Adelaide's North Terrace boulevard". In 1970, Premier
Don Dunstan
Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...
overrode his cabinet colleagues to save the mansion's from being demolished. Mindful of its tourism potential, he instigated its renovation as a tourist and cultural centre that included a museum and fine-dining and bistro restaurants. At this time, much of the house was conserved to original condition. Dunstan engaged the
National Trust of South Australia
The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...
to conduct the museum
for restoration and public use.
Costumes, silverware, artworks, furniture, a
chandelier
A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...
and the original
gasolier
A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent l ...
s were displayed in the museum area. The bedrooms became the "fine dining" Henry Ayers Restaurant; the stables housed a bistro. Four private event rooms were used for weddings and events.
In June 2021, South Australian Environment Minister
David Speirs
David James Speirs (born December 15, 1984) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the South Australian House of Assembly since the 2014 state election and leader of the Liberal Party since 19 April 2022. He represented ...
announced that the
History Trust of South Australia
The History Trust of South Australia, sometimes referred to as History SA, was created as a statutory corporation by the ''History Trust of South Australia Act 1981'', to safeguard South Australia’s heritage and to encourage research and publi ...
, a
government agency
A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...
, would move into the building after undergoing a $6.6 million makeover to be funded by his government. He stated that he had ended the National Trust's monthly recurring lease and that, although the lease termination letter cited only 31 days, the Trust would be given "several months" to vacate the premises. Critics surmised that the decision to terminate the lease "sounds like punishment" following the National Trust's criticism of the government-approved demolition of a historic structure at Port Adelaide in 2019, and that the government's History Trust "is of course never going to publicly criticise them".
The National Trust launched a petition and legal action against the order from Speirs, but was unsuccessful. It then moved to premises in
Beaumont
Beaumont may refer to:
Places Canada
* Beaumont, Alberta
* Beaumont, Quebec
England
* Beaumont, Cumbria
* Beaumont, Essex
**Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s
* Beaumont Street, Oxford
France (communes)
* Beaumont, Ardèche
* Be ...
. However, the government changed in March 2022. Ten days later, the new Environment Minister,
Susan Close
Susan Elizabeth Close (born 12 November 1967) is an Australian politician, who is currently the Deputy Premier of South Australia since March 2022. She also holds the ministerial portfolios of Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Minist ...
, announced that the government was supporting the National Trust to have a permanent home in Ayers House and that once a "comprehensive review" had been completed, the trust could move back to the property.
Gallery
File:Ayers House (National Trust, South Australia), North Terrace, Adelaide, 12 July 2020.jpg, Ayers House from North Terrace, July 2020
File:Ayers House - North Terrace - Adelaide.JPG, Front of Ayers House from within the property
File:Ayers House April 2011. (47897151791).jpg, Front of Ayers House – east turret
File:Ayers House Museum (6174117131).jpg, Museum items in the west turret room
File:Ayers House Museum (6174642940).jpg, State dining room with grand piano
References
External links
Ayers HouseAyers House MuseumArtlab - Ayers HouseVisitors' Guide - Ayers HouseERD Court - Ayers House Carparking Case
{{Adelaide landmarks
Museums in Adelaide
Houses in Adelaide
Neoclassical architecture in Australia
National Trust of South Australia
Historic house museums in South Australia
South Australian Heritage Register
Houses completed in 1876