Hvidøre
'Hvidøre' is a house on the coast in Skovshoved to the north of Copenhagen in Denmark. The name can be translated as "a white, gravelled beach".
Built by the Danish architect Johan Schröder in 1871 on the site of a former castle, the house was originally a summer residence for the counsellor F. C. Bruun. It is built in an Italian Renaissance style. Neo-Grecian figures form part of the upper balcony.
After the death of their father, King Christian IX, 1906, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom and the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia bought Hvidøre. The sisters renovated the villa, hiring Waring & Gillow to do most of the interior decoration. Since they wished to have direct access to the beach, a tunnel was built beneath the coastal road separating the house from the beach. They resided at Hvidøre every year in September to November, until 1914. The outbreak of World War I made travel from England and Russia impossible.
Maria Feodorovna was in Russia during the Revolution. In 1919, she escaped from the Crimea to England. After two years, she eventually returned to Hvidøre. Maria Feodorovna was joined by her daughter Grand Duchess Olga and family. They lived there until Maria Feodorovna's death at Hvidøre on 13 October 1928.
Olga and her sister Xenia sold the estate in 1930, and many owners followed until, in 1937 Harald and Thorvald Pedersen bought the villa. The house was converted into a diabetes hospital and opened on 28 January 1938. People with diabetes could get treatment and learn to live with their disease and have an active life. The hospital accommodated 25 patients.
In 1989 'Novo Industri' and 'Nordisk Gentofte' merged into 'Novo Nordisk A/S'. Hvidøre was merged with Steno Diabetes Center. On 16 August 1993, after renovation, it reopened as an internal conference centre for the Novo Group’s employees and guests.
External links
Coordinates: 55°46′17.7″N 12°35′39.9″E / 55.771583°N 12.594417°E
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hvid%C3%B8re
