Whittall Mansion ( tr, Whittall Köşkü) is an Ottoman-era mansion in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

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

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into 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 ...

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 rock musician, singer, composer, actor, television producer and show host. Beg ...

(1943–1999).

Background

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

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

, today

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

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

Buca Buca (, ) is a district of İzmir Province, Turkey. It is one of the main urban districts of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. History Buca was one of the preferred settlement areas of İzmir's community of Levantines. The great mansions they bui ...

, 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 la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, today

, in 1873.

Mansion

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

Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea of ...

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,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the B ...

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

Ottoman Greek Ottoman Greeks ( el, Ρωμιοί; tr, Osmanlı Rumları) 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 ...

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 Mahmud Muhtar Pasha ( tr, Mahmut Muhtar Paşa; 1867 – 15 March 1935), known as Mahmut Muhtar Katırcıoğlu since 1934, was an Ottoman-born Turkish military officer and diplomat, the son of the Grand Vizier Ahmed Muhtar Pasha. Biography ...

fled to the Whittall mansion for shelter in April 1909 amidst the chaos of the

31 March Incident The 31 March Incident ( tr, 31 Mart Vakası, , , or ) was a political crisis within the Ottoman Empire in April 1909, during the Second Constitutional Era. Occurring soon after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, in which the Committee of Union and Pr ...

; 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, CBE (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 ...

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 form ...

there. There were about six

Aubusson tapestries Aubusson tapestry is tapestry manufactured at Aubusson, in the upper valley of the Creuse in central France. The term often covers the similar products made in the nearby town of Felletin, whose products are often treated as "Aubusson". The i ...

hanging on the walls. The tapestries were bought by

Enver Pasha İsmail Enver, better known as Enver Pasha ( ota, اسماعیل انور پاشا; tr, İsmail Enver Paşa; 22 November 1881 – 4 August 1922) was an Ottoman military officer, revolutionary, and convicted war criminal who formed one-third ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

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. ( tr, Barış Manço Evi). 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