Forbes Mansion is one of the most well-known and photographed mansions in Buca. Built in 1908 by the Scottish origin Levantine George King Forbes, the mansion burned down as a result of a fire in 1909 and was rebuilt in 1910.
It is known that the Forbes Family became rich with the export of antimony and licorice. Built on the second largest land in Buca after Hasanağa Garden, the mansion, after the Forbes Family, was hosted by another respected and powerful family of İzmir, the Whittaller.
Forbes Mansion is known as the most impressive and magnificent of the Levantine mansions in Buca. The mansion, outside the urban texture, is placed on the top of the hill covered with a pinetum at the time, and has the appearance of a crown that completes the hill with its building form.
The structure, which cannot be defined with a certain architectural style, has a different appearance both indoors and outdoors, and attracts attention with its tower form, which rarely appears in English architecture.
The main building structure of the mansion and the various buildings located in the land where the mansion was built, as well as the outbuildings housing the mansion staff serving the Forbes Family, are known as interesting applications of both asymmetric and eclectic design.
While the entrance with an Ionian capital and triangular pediment, the three-storey tower rising from its side, and the three-sided projections on three sides, whose corners are marked by columns, appear as applications of Western architectural design, the wide eaves supported by consoles bear traces of the vernacular architecture.
The coat of arms in the structure, the relief snake and frog motifs that adorn the stair railings, and the window shutters brought from London draw attention as documents of the importance of decorative design as well as the architectural design of the structure.
The interiors of the building also have intense decorations. Among these are fireplaces decorated with plaster decorations on ceilings and walls, including eagle and eros motifs.
Forbes Mansion is located on the campus where Buca Seyfi Demirsoy State Hospital, which is currently under the management of the Ministry of Health, is located. Restoration work continues in Forbes Mansion, which was also used as a tuberculosis dispensary for a while. It is not possible to go inside the mansion, but you can take great photos from the outside.
Where is Forbes Mansion ? 📍
How to get to Forbes Mansion ? 🚖
🚌 Bus: It can be reached to Forbes Mansion after a 5-minute walk by getting off at the Buca State Hospital bus stop numbered 40040 with ESHOT buses numbered 476,515,676 and 805. Forbes Mansion is located in the garden of Buca Seyfi Demirsoy State Hospital.