Glorious Decoration in Ayers House: A new mystery video reveals all with Keith Conlon
"It is one of the best examples of Colonial Regency architecture in Australia".
High praise for Ayers House on North Terrace, Adelaide and it comes from the new internationally published glossy Eyewitness Travel Guide, Australia Edition. It spans two pages on the grand house, now operated as a museum by the National Trust.
On Postcards this week, I explored why it stands up to that international attention. First, it is the only grand mansion left on what was a prime residential address, North Terrace, and we can visit 6 days a week. Secondly, it has strong connections with South Australia in the last century through its long time owner, Henry Ayers.
And now, there is a third claim to fame for Ayers House. Inside, a veil of marry layers of institutional white paint has been lifted to reveal a stunning array of elaborate interior decoration.
A new video publication portrays the ghostly guests of the Ayers wafting into the family dining room. They would certainly feel at home now it is bathed in its original colours.
It is a mystery video - a tale of cover-ups. The world class high Victorian decoration which was painted on 120 years ago has been uncovered by a world class detective with an artistic flair.
Henry Ayers, landed as 'the father of our parliament' when he died in 1897 commissioned it all originally. He had been a member of the first elected legislative council in the colony 40 years earlier, and had served 7 times as Premier or Chief Secretary. With his political and property interest in the Northern Territory, Ayers Rock, now known as Uluru, was named after him.
When Henry Ayers moved into the house in 1855, none of the front section facing the Royal Adelaide Hospital was yet built. The glory inside now was hard won. It began with a mission of discovery by Clive Holden and his team of painters - artists, skilled in the intricate and the intriguing.
They uncovered and recreated, for instance, a stencilled wall frieze in the family dining room. It was likely the work of a British firm of decorators, Lyon and Coltier, who had offices in London, New York and Sydney. If Clive Holden was around 120 years of age, he may well have worked for this premier company. Instead, he's developed detective and restoration techniques for the next century.
Another outstanding example of the work - old and new - is on high, above the family dining room table. The video shows Clive painstakingly scraping ceiling paint layers away to reveal a plate of food! There are four dishes of game and fruits now superbly restored or repainted.
There are broad bands of detailed decoration round the ceiling, and another deep gold-leafed wall frieze meeting them. They required the cutting of 13 or 14 stencil patterns for the family dining room alone.
The Ayers House restoration video is also a guide for the trades. One sequence shows Clive painting on several stages of the 'wood grain' panels around the room. There's a wealth of training and experience on show as well, not to mention a trade secret. Clive swears by stale beer as an ingredient for his wood-graining concoction.
As National Trust guides lead their visitors to the staircase, Henry Ayers' corner of memorabilia gives them an opportunity to elaborate on the great figure of the 19th Century.
A marriage certificate (dated just before Henry and Anne gained free passage to South Australia) lists him as a carpenter, when he was really a lawyer's clerk. Carpenters received free migration.
By 1845, the son of a Portsea shipwright was secretary of the South Australian Mining Association, and a major shareholder in 'the eighth wonder of the world', as the monster Burra copper mine was called. He became fabulously rich, and as a canny financier, consolidated his fortune. Henry Ayers could demand the very best - and the interior decoration is once more on full and glorious show.
It is particularly striking in the grandest room of Ayers House, added in the 1870's. It is said Henry held an annual dinner for the Legislative Council in the State Dining Room...suitable surroundings certainly. It is a potential room, with incredible detail painted on to its lofty ceilings. The minted greens and creams were restored in 1973, when Ayers House was bought by the government.
Restaurants were added at the rear and sides, cutting into the old family living sections at the rear. The grand rooms across the front of the house were given over to the National Trust.
For most of this century, it has been in the hands of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. In the 1940's, the State Dining Room was a dormitory for trainee nurses. Nine old iron beds spread through one end, and the massive chanddelier made a nice spot to dry the underwear.
The institutional white paint still clings to some of the upstairs rooms at the back. They await more federal funds before their mysteries will be uncovered.
One bedroom, however, is beautifully decorated once again. Again, the restoration video takes us up close as Clive lifts the veil on sweet floral painting s which act as centrepieces to the high wall frieze. One has been kept and restored, while the others are accurately recreated. Thirty lines trace round the frieze and ceiling decoration, and the immaculate craft is evident on the tape.
Ayers House is open to the public Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4pm, and weekends and public holidays 1pm to 4pm. It is closed on Mondays, Good Friday and Christmas Day. The National Trust furniture collection enhances the sense of grand living on North Terrace, and it is yours, briefly, for special functions and events.
The Trust runs a Gift Shop on site, and they'll gladly sell you a copy of the interior decoration restoration video.
Ayers House
288 North Terrace
Adelaide SA 5000
Phone: 08 8222 1655
