{{Short description|Flower farm on Lake Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya}} {{for|the Kenyan football club|Oserian F.C.}} {{EngvarB|date=March 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox farm | name =Oserian | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | map_name = | map_alt = | map_width = | map_relief = | map_label = | map_label_position = | map_caption = | location = Lake Naivasha, Nakuru County | state = | province = | prefecture = | country =Kenya | coordinates = | grid_ref_UK = | grid_ref_Ireland = | established = 1969 | disestablished = | owner = | area = | produce = Geothermal and solar energy | status = }} '''Oserian''' (Masai, "Place of Peace") is a large area of land on the south shores of Lake Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya.<ref name="Davis2011">{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Art|title=From Foot Safaris to Helicopters: 100 Years of the Davis Family in Missions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a3pgevNKRocC&pg=PA41|date=19 December 2011|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-1-4620-6761-9|page=41}}</ref> Oserian's wildlife corridor is more than {{convert|1|mi|disp=flip|abbr=on}} in width and reaches the lake. It occupies more than {{convert|4|mi|0|disp=flip|abbr=on}} of shoreline.<ref name="CoglianeseNash2001">{{cite book|last1=Coglianese|first1=Cary|last2=Nash|first2=Jennifer|title=Regulating from the Inside: Can Environmental Management Systems Achieve Policy Goals?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ewmsy2Sut4UC&pg=PA136|year=2001|publisher=Resources for the Future|isbn=978-1-891853-41-8|page=136}}</ref>
==History== One of the significant landmarks in the area is the Gin Palace (later, Djinn Palace) which was originally a country estate, the Moorish-style mansion was built in 1927 by Major Cyril Ramsay-Hill,<ref name="Huxley2011">{{cite book|last=Huxley|first=Elspeth|title=Out in the Midday Sun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q_O6EIxMX4C&pg=PT115|date=8 June 2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4464-7581-2|page=115}}</ref> a rancher, former officer in an Indian regiment, and sometime Hollywood actor. It was based on his grandmother's home in Seville, Spain.<ref>{{cite book|title=Architectural Digest|year = 1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RkVQAQAAIAAJ|publisher=John C. Brasfield Publishing Corporation|page=122}}</ref> The crenellated and domed building features minarets, and contains an "inner courtyard, fountains, squash court, swimming pool, and polo grounds".<ref name=Davenport-Hines>{{cite web|last=Davenport-Hines|first=Richard|title=Happy Valley set (act. 1924–1941)|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/theme.jsp?articleid=101230&back=&backToResults|work=Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=15 December 2013}}</ref>
During the colonial era, the Djinn Palace was "where things usually were very lively" for the Happy Valley set, according to Ulf Aschan.<ref name="Ulf">{{cite book |last1=Aschan |first1=Ulf |title=The Man Whom Women Loved |url=https://archive.org/details/manwhomwomenlove00asch |url-access=registration |date=1987 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=9780312022495 |page=[https://archive.org/details/manwhomwomenlove00asch/page/142 142-143]}}</ref> 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.<ref name=oserianwildlife.com>{{cite web|title=Oserian Wildlife Lodges / About Us|url=http://www.oserianwildlife.com/history.html|work=oserianwildlife.com}}</ref> In 1982, it became the first flower farm on Lake Naivasha and was once one of the largest flower farms in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oserian Farms |url=https://www.bloomquestusa.com/oserian-farms.html |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=BloomQuest}}</ref> The flower farm and its business was divested in 2021 to Bohemian Flowers.<ref name=Woodward2013>{{cite news|last=Woodward|first=Christopher|title=This Kenyan Boomtown Is Getting Rich on Roses|newspaper=Business Insider|date=13 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-11 |title=CAK approves buyout of flower firm Oserian |url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/cak-approves-buyout-flower-firm-oserian-3580106 |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Business Daily}}</ref>
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).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Premier Solar Group |url=https://www.premiersolargroup.com/project-details.php?id=1007 |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=premiersolargroup.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Oyugi |first=Zablon |date=2019-05-10 |title=Oserian Development Company launches solar plant to power operations – News and knowhow for farmers |url=https://farmbizafrica.com/oserian-development-company-launches-solar-plant-to-power-operations/ |access-date=2024-07-21}}</ref>
==Further reading== * Charles Hayes, ''Oserian – Place of Peace'', Rima Publications, 1997 (ISBN 9780969426523).
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Houses in Kenya Category:Nakuru County Category:Farms in Kenya Category:Agricultural organisations based in Kenya Category:Buildings and structures in Rift Valley Province Category:Houses completed in 1927