Utopia House, Mutare

Part of the antiquities collection of the Mutare Museum is displayed at Utopia House, the old Fairbridge homestead, which was offered to National Museums and Monuments in 1972 by Mr. H. T. F. Went, grandson of Rhys Fairbridge, who did the original survey of Umtali and was the father of Kingsley Fairbridge.

For many years the building remained in its original state and was known as the house with doors, but no walls. When the building was finally completed, the corrugated iron roofing, doors and windows were brought up from South Africa. As there are no ceilings and bare floors; the open fireplace displaying family photographs, must have been a winter necessity.  The walls are constructed of granite stone held together by dhaka cement. The furniture is simple, but sturdily constructed and includes luxuries like a piano which the family and friends must have gathered around for social singsongs in the days before radio and television. 

The shelves are all open, displaying books and lamps, china and pots and kettles, all the paraphernalia of Edwardian life! Mr Rhys Fairbridge’s office is separate from the domestic rooms with a bullet hole in the door as the story goes he was once too sick to summon help and fired his gun to attract attention! The kitchen, similarly separated from the domestic rooms, has a hatch through which the meals were served.