Edwards Villa

Edwards Villa is a large and elaborate building in Bornova, İzmir, that serves as a cafeteria and social communication centre.

Edwards Villa was built by the Edwards Family in 1880 as a large and elaborate residence. After Charles Edwards passed away, the villa was given the name "Murat Villa".

In 1980, it was expropriated by the government and the İzmir Province Vulnerable Child Protection Union.

In 1983, it was transferred to the Social Services Society for the Protection of Children General Directorate.

In 2001, The Society for the Protection of Children and Izmir Metropolitan Municipality started a project to comprehensively restore the villa over a fifteen year period. After restoration in 2005, it was given to the Ege University and served as a cafeteria and a community center.

The villa is on the opposite side of a Anglican Church at the corner of Central Boulevard and Flower Street, which are the two important axes of the settlement. The villa is built on a plain. The Edwards maintained a magnificent garden. The villa is now surrounded by palm and pine trees. At the corner of the garden is an Ottoman-style Turkish bath.

The façade is symmetric about the central plane. This symmetry is accentuated by double entry doors.

The porch is surrounded by Ionic columns and approached by double-arm stairs. The stairs on the porch open the southern façade of the main hall and are reminiscent of the Italian architecture used in the entire structure, especially in the front parts.

The porch is a specimen of late Italian civil architecture.

The interior of the building has several ornaments made out of plaster and wood.

The ceilings have various eye-catching motifs of animals such as lions and dragons. The ground floor hall is adorned with black-and-white marble plaques, intricate niches and large wooden doors. The fireplace is made out of cast iron. The first floor rooms are decorated simply in stark contrast with the hall's ornate ceiling centers.

A low-arched transition element is made of plasters and wood.

The restoration process involved stripping the plaster and the cladding from the basement and covering the chimney with bricks, as well as replacing the lighting fixtures, which left the architecture inconsistent.

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