Photo courtesy of Hümerya Birol Akkurt
For many years, known as the Wood-Paterson house, it is still lived in by a member of the family. The entrance gateway has survived intact, and is still prominent. The house was initally built by an Englishman, John Maltass, and the property was inherited by his daughter Eugenie Wood, wife of Charles Wood who was sent out to Smyrna by the Duke of Richmond to practice at the hospital (Br. Seaman’s ?). One of his eight children, Lucy, was the grandmother of Mrs Renée Steinbüchel, the present owner. Lucy lived in the house with her sister Hortense who was a great feminist as well as being a poetess, a composer and a gifted painter. She had taken piano lessons from Franz Liszt. In addition, Hortense was an admirer of Kemal Ataturk, and had written to congratulate him on his successes. In September 1922, on his arrival in Smyrna as general-in-chief of the Turkish army, Ataturk enquired where Hortense Wood lived. The Wood house, which has changed but little since those days, was taken over as Ataturk’s headquarters. Below a view of this same house around turn of the 20th century.