View source for Melrose House

{{short description|Historic mansion in Pretoria, South Africa}}
{{For|the house in New Zealand|Melrose House, Nelson}}'''Melrose House''' is a stately [[mansion]] and museum located opposite [[Burgers Park]] in [[Pretoria]], [[South Africa]].

{{Infobox building
| name             = Melrose House
| image            = Melrose House Museum.JPG
| address          = 275 Jeff Masemola Street and 280 Scheiding Street
| location_town    = [[Pretoria]]
| location_country = [[South Africa]]
| architect        = WT Vale
| architectural_style = [[Edwardian]] and [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]]
}}
[[File:Melrose_house_SA.jpg|right|thumb|250x250px|Melrose House in 2005.]]
[[File:Table_where_treaty_was_signed.JPG|thumb|Table where Treaty of Vereeniging was signed]]

==History==
Built in 1886 by the prosperous Pretoria businessman George Jesse Heys, it was named after the famous [[Melrose Abbey]] in [[Scotland]]. Melrose House gained fame during the [[Second Boer War]] (1899&ndash;1902) when [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]] requisitioned it as the headquarters for the [[United Kingdom|British]] forces after Pretoria was invaded in June 1900. For more than 18 months, instructions for the British forces in the field were issued from here. The use of the house as a military headquarters ended when the [[Treaty of Vereeniging]], which ended the war, was signed there on 31 May 1902.

The [[City of Tshwane|Pretoria City Council]] purchased the house and its contents in 1967 for R300,000 for restoration, culminating in [[State President of South Africa]] [[Charles Robberts Swart]] opening it as a museum and declaring it a national heritage site on May 17, 1971.

==Museum==
Today the elegant mansion is a [[historic house museum]]. It is an example of the transition from [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] to [[Edwardian architecture|Edwardian]] [[architectural style]]s and interiors.  The interior is characterised by colourful [[stained glass]] windows, paintings by English artists, carpets in rich colours, ornate ceilings and fireplaces, as well as valuable [[porcelain]] ornaments. The majority of these items belonged to the Heys family itself. Notably the museum contains the room and the table on which the [[Treaty of Vereeniging]] (which ended the [[Second Boer War]]) was signed. Annual antique markets are held on the premises.

{{Multiple image
| image1            = Melrose House-Pretoria-019.jpg
| image2            = Melrose House-Pretoria-018.jpg
| image3            = Melrose House 02.jpg
| image4            = Melrose House-Pretoria-007.jpg
| image5            = Melrose House-Pretoria-004.jpg
| image6            = Melrose House 04.jpg
| image7            = 9 2 258 0009-Melrose House1-Pretoria-s.jpg
| image8            = Room for tea.JPG
| image9            = Melrose House 05.jpg
}}

== Bibliography ==
* ''Wêreldspektrum'', 1982, {{ISBN|0908409591}}, vol. 18, p.&nbsp;114
* Fisher, Roger C. (compiler): ''Visuele leksikon van die Suid-Afrikaanse woning''. Cape Town: Unibook Publishers, 1992. {{ISBN|1-86819-320-9}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|South Africa}}
* {{Official website|https://www.gauteng.net/attractions/melrose_house_museum}}
* [http://visitpretoria.co.za/History/melrose-house Melrose House] 360 degree Virtual Tour on Visit Pretoria

{{Pretoria}}

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[[Category:Museums in Pretoria]]
[[Category:Houses in Gauteng]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1886]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in South Africa]]
[[Category:History of Pretoria]]
[[Category:19th-century architecture in South Africa]]