One of Adelaide’s most recognisable homes has been secured after thieves broke in

Adelaide’s most colourful home has been broken into and parts of its eccentric owner’s music and mining collections stolen, following his death.

An Eastwood house left by Adelaide’s most-eccentric collector, the late Royce Wells, has been alarmed and secured after thieves broke in this week.

The Fullarton Road home, opposite Glenside Hospital, was long known as the House of Psychedelia.

It has been one of Adelaide’s best-known domestic landmarks since the 1970s, when Mr Wells started collecting music from the era.

Friends planned to turn the colourful home into a museum for Mr Wells’ extensive music and mining collections.

But thieves took advantage of publicity surrounding his death to break-in.

Mr Wells’ friend Colin Beaton said the dilapidated building – which was saved from a demolition order in 2018 – had now been secured with an alarm system.

The most-valuable items had been removed to a secure location.

Long-time Eastwood resident Royce Wells with friend Colin Beaton at the Eastwood home in 2018. Picture MATT TURNER

“As you can imagine in its condition, the home has been very difficult to secure and, unfortunately, after publicity surrounding Royce’s his death, someone has taken advantage,’’ Mr Beaton said. “Some music records were taken, so all those, along with anything else valuable, has been relocated.”

Mr Wells lived all of his 78-years in the home.

He became a leading authority on Adelaide’s colonial mines while working for the former Department of Mines in the 1980s.

In his will, he asked for his collections and house to be preserved for 80 years after his death, to be administered by his two cousins.

Mr Beaton said the break-in was believed to have been carried out by someone known to Mr Wells, because only selected items had been taken.

He said restoration of the house would be more problematic.

Mr Wells was injured in a mining accident in the 1980s and had limited income to maintain the building.

“It had been thought that there was not much that could be done about restoring the home, but we have been contacted by one expert who had given us some hope,’’ Mr Beaton said.

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