Whittall Mansion () is an Ottoman-era mansion in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey, built in 1900. Today, it is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

dedicated to rock musician

Barış Manço Mehmet Barış Manço (born Tosun Yusuf Mehmet Barış Manço; 2 January 1943 – 1 February 1999), better known by his stage name Barış Manço, was a Turkish people, Turkish rock music, rock musician, singer, composer, actor, television ...

(1943–1999).

Background

James William Whittall, later Sir William Whittall, was a British businessman, whose ancestors settled in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, today

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, in 1809. He married fellow Anglo-Ottoman Edith Anne Barker in

Buca Buca (, ) is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 178 km2, and its population is 522,404 (2022). It is the biggest district of İzmir Province as terms of population. It covers the southeastern part of the agglom ...

, Smyrna on 9 April 1862. His wife gave birth to four children, Edith Mary, Ethel Marianne, Frederick Edwin and Linda Frances. After working with his two brothers in the family-owned firm C. Whittall and Co. in Smyrna, he founded his own company in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, today

, in 1873.

Mansion

The Whittall Mansion is located on Yusuf Kamil Paşa St. in the Moda quarter of

Kadıköy Kadıköy () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district on the Asian side of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 467,919 (2023). It is a large and populous area in the Asian si ...

district in Istanbul, Turkey. In 1870, J.W. Whittall purchased a large property in Moda, Kadıköy stretching on a hillside between Moda Avenue and the sea shore of the

Marmara Sea The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

. He built a mansion for his grown-up family, designed by

Ottoman Greek Ottoman Greeks (; ) were ethnic Greeks who lived in the Ottoman Empire (1299–1922), much of which is in modern Turkey. Ottoman Greeks were Greek Orthodox Christians who belonged to the Rum Millet (''Millet-i Rum''). They were concentrated in ...

Pape between 1895 and 1900. The mansion was dubbed the "Tower House" ("Kule Ev"). He bestowed a wooden house at the premises to his son Frederick Edwin and daughter-in-law Helen, née La Fontaine. He built houses of all sizes on the property for his children. Soldier and civil servant Mahmud Muhtar Pasha fled to the Whittall mansion for shelter in April 1909 amidst the chaos of the

31 March Incident The 31 March incident () was an uprising in the Ottoman Empire in April 1909, during the Second Constitutional Era. The incident broke out during the night of 30–31 Mart 1325 in Rumi calendar ( GC 12–13 April 1909), thus named after 31 Mar ...

; the house was briefly surrounded by Ottoman troops.http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/diary_details.php?diary_id=840

Gertrude Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highly inf ...

diary, 13 July 1909 The Whittall Mansion has two stories and an attic. The first floor features a long hall stretching to the terrace. The hall was flanked by living rooms. One of the rooms, having a charcoal-burning stove and decorated as an "Oriental Room", belonged to Helen's grandmother Lilly, who played

pinochle Pinochle (), also called pinocle or penuchle, is a trick-taking ace–ten card game, typically for two to four players and played with a 48-card deck. It is derived from the card game bezique; players score points by trick-taking and also by ...

there. There were about six Aubusson tapestries hanging on the walls. The tapestries were bought by

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and holes were punched in the middle to allow stove pipes to go through, for stoves to warm wounded Turkish soldiers in the hospital. On the second floor were the sleeping rooms. The terrace overlooked the lower garden with some

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

trees and a small jetty on the sea shore, where J.W. Whittall moored sailboats. The hillside garden was dubbed "Whittall Park".

History

The mansion changed ownership many times. In 1965, fifth generation family member John Whittall regained possession of the mansion. In 1984, rock musician

(1943 - 1999) purchased it. After Manço's death, the mansion, where he had lived with his wife Lale and sons Doğukan Hazar and Batıkan Zorbey and produced his works, was restored and turned into a museum focused on his life. (). It was opened to the public on 9 June 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:whittall Mansion Ottoman architecture in Istanbul Buildings and structures of the Ottoman Empire Mansions in Turkey Houses completed in 1900 Historic house museums in Turkey Museums established in 2010 2010 establishments in Turkey Kadıköy 19th-century architecture in Turkey

Background

Mansion

History

See also

References