The "Venard" home in Jubilee St, Belleknowes, built in 1898, has cast its dramatic presence over the skyline for more than 100 years.
Its owner has allowed the masses to trek through for the first time.
Homeowner Paul Ferro invited the public inside as part of the Southern Art House Tour, a partnership between Columba College and John McGlashan College to display and sell art by a range of Otago and New Zealand artists.
Visitors could meander through seven of Dunedin’s most iconic homes, from Mosgiel to Macandrew Bay, to view and buy the artwork displayed.
Mr Ferro said he was all for the concept and about 200 tickets had been sold.
"What I find interesting is that it is very different to see it displayed and physically mounted on a wall versus seeing art online ... It can be quite different to see art in a lived-in home, where you have to store things, as opposed to on a wall of an exhibition.
"The schools did a call-out for homes and I’ve had four children go through the two schools ... I thought it was about time to do something to give back — this is the first time I’ve opened my home to the public."
A mix of people came through, some people interested in the art and others interested in seeing the inside of the home.
The house was originally built for William Alexander Moore, the Australasian manager for steamship owners and shipping agents Turnbull, Martin and Co, who were involved in shipping frozen meat to London.
It was in the house, as guests of the Moores, that Capt Robert Falcon Scott spent his last night in New Zealand with his wife, Kathleen, before sailing in November 1910 for the Antarctic.
The trip ended in disaster when Scott and four others died on their way back from the South Pole.
The open-home style art show did prompt a deep spring cleaning job by Mr Ferro, who said he finally had the incentive to do quite a few jobs he needed to get around to.
Having so many show-stopping pieces was too much for him to resist, especially after seeing the pieces hung in his own home, and he bought one of them, a piece by Karen Baddock named Quail, Mr Ferro said.
He was not yet sure where in the house the painting would be displayed.
