Urrbrae House

When Peter Waite left the small town of Kirkcaldy in Scotland in 1859 bound for Adelaide, they were to embark on a lifelong voyage of discovery which would have a profound impact on the young colony of South Australia. Waite and his family settled in the mid North of the State and soon his innovative management of pastoral properties made him fabulously wealthy. "He used new ideas in fencing in managing his property and as a result of that he became successful, unlike many of his contemporaries. He also formed a business partnership with Thomas Elder and Robert Barr Smith and together they founded Elder Smith. So by the 1870's he had become a very wealthy man." So much so that he built Urrbrae House and established this grand estate situated off Fullarton Road. Throughout his life Peter Waite was an innovator an immigrant from the old country who knew that science and technology would help carve out a new life in what could be a very harsh environment and that's why he embraced change.

"He brought in innovative new ideas. He installed electric light. It was the first private house, there were a couple of public buildings which had electric but this was the first private house. Peter Waite was a real gadgets man so much so that he installed the first domestic refrigeration plant in Australia. It looks like a sauna but it's really a fridge, a tad bigger than yours at home but again it really shows what a real innovator Peter Waite was." Complete with ammonia compressor and fan this was the forerunner to what we now take for granted in any kitchen. Upon his death in 1922, Peter Waite bequeathed all this to the University of Adelaide for the establishment of a centre devoted to the research, study and teaching of agricultural science and so the Waite Agricultural Research Institute was formed. All of this is open to the public next Sunday as a part of Back to Waite Day. And should you visit the main hall keep an eye out for the wall and ceiling papers. They're the work of Aldan Heaton, the same interior decorator responsible for the stateroom of the vessel the Titanic. They reflect Waite's love of the arts and nature a theme taken up in the photographic exhibition on display in the ballroom. An artist who's taken a keen interest in Urrbrae and the man who built all this is sculptor Greg Johns. His work is now a feature of the nearby Arboretum with its array of labelled trees and shrubs from around the world. It captures in cast iron that Peter Waite would have known only too well, the sense of a Scottish gentleman bending to the constraints of a harsh new land. The sculpture walk along with the Arboretum and nearby garden are all open to the public during daylight hours. The house with its photographic display and refrigeration plant is open on Sunday from 11am to 5pm as part of Back to the Waite Day.

For more information you can email info@postcards-sa.com.au