Nowhere on a map or tourist attraction website will you find this quaint little white house with thatched & green roof that sits against a mountain just off the Houtbosdorp road. Yet, somehow a big corporation like ZZ2 (the people that grow tomatoes, avos, mangoes and more) decided it was worth restoring.
Now I don’t know if you can just drive up and get access – I know people, I grew up there. If in doubt, just contact ZZ2 head office and ask.
So it is somewhere off a gravel road that tests the limit of your little town car, just past University of Limpopo, up and down a few hills – on the right… Driving up the road that had clearly seen heavy rain my little Chev Spark had to cross over “dongas” that could’ve swallowed her whole – and there was a misty rain blowing down against the mountain.
…and there it sat, a little white house with a thatched & green roof surrounded by mist that swept around it like a blanket.
My cameras struggled with rain on the lenses, but I pushed through and I captured a little of this home where a couple raised their children in a house with few too many bedrooms and way too little space – and not so standard doors.
The story goes that the couple had a bunch of kids and when they passed on and the kids had moved away the house fell into ruin. Since it has been restored one or 2 old pieces of furniture from the original owners was obtained and an old coal stove is on lend from my bro-in-law. The house has a rondavel attached which brings the grand total of rooms to 3 and a stoep – I didn’t see the outhouse (which I assume they would’ve used). It isn’t really big, but it would’ve been warm if the coal stove was fed.
I love historical buildings – even if it is a plain old building with no special architectural features. It is the fact that somebody decided to move up a mountain and carve out a live that tickles my interest – and trigger happy camera fingers.
