Oserian ( Masai, "Place of Peace") is a large area of land on the south shores of

Lake Naivasha Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is situated in the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name ''ɛnaɨpɔ́sha '', meaning ...

Nakuru County Nakuru County is a county in Kenya. It is county number 32 out of the 47 Kenyan counties. Nakuru County is a host to Kenya's Fourth City – Nakuru City. On 1 December 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded a City Charter status to Nakuru, ran ...

, Kenya. Oserian's

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, also known as a habitat corridor, or green corridor, is a designated area habitat (ecology), that connects wildlife populations that have been separated by human activities or structures, such as development, roads, or land ...

is more than in width and reaches the lake. It occupies more than of shoreline.

History

One of the significant landmarks in area is the Gin Palace (later, Djinn Palace) which was originally a country estate, the

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

-style mansion was built in 1927 by Major Cyril Ramsay-Hill, a rancher, former officer in an Indian regiment, and sometime Hollywood actor. It was based on his grandmother's home in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain. The crenellated and domed building features minarets, and contains an "inner courtyard, fountains, squash court, swimming pool, and polo grounds". During the

colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

, the Djinn Palace was "where things usually were very lively" for the

Happy Valley set The Happy Valley set was a group of mostly British and Anglo-Irish aristocrats and adventurers who settled in the "Happy Valley" region of the Wanjohi Valley, near the Aberdare mountain range, in colonial Kenya between the 1920s and the 1940s. ...

, according to Ulf Aschan. It was built for Ramsay-Hill's wife, Molly (née Edith Mildred Maude; 1893–1939), who had an affair with and later married Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll. In 1969, Oserian was established as a small vegetable growing farm. In 1982, it became the first flower farm on Lake Naivasha and was once one of the largest flower farms in the world. The flower farm and its business was divested in 2021 to Bohemian Flowers. Oserian's first geothermal power plant was a binary plant commissioned in 2004 followed in 2007 by the construction and commissioning of a second geothermal power station. The reorganisation of Oserian resulted in its primary business now being energy production (geothermal and solar energy).

References

{{reflist Houses in Kenya Nakuru County Farms in Kenya Agricultural organisations based in Kenya Buildings and structures in Rift Valley Province Houses completed in 1927

History

Further reading

References