A hidden heritage - Obs Living History part 5
As the Southern Suburbs become increasingly densified with new developments popping up everywhere, it might be heartening to find that Observatory and Mowbray have clung on to most of their early homesteads, some dating back to the 18th century.
When most of us think of Observatory, its rich Victorian architectural heritage springs to mind; the rows of attractive terraces and villas that are ever popular on the property market. But hidden away in this densely packed suburb behind high walls or in quiet side streets, are some interesting Cape Dutch and Georgian houses, as well as some archaeological sites of interest.
Arguably the grandest of these is the sprawling Valkenberg homestead (saved from ruin in the 1980s and beautifully restored), with its elegant pedimented gable and thatched roof, situated next to the mental health facility of the same name and facing the Liesbeek River.
The first recorded house on the site was already standing in 1713, but it was later owners, such as Cornelis de Waal and Cornelis Mostert who transformed the simple farm complex into a country burgher’s showplace with numerous gables, long wings of outbuildings and an impressive double-storey section with elaborate wavy parapet, clearly the work of master craftsmen (possibly highly skilled Malay slaves).
It is now home to the Protea Hotel Cape Town Mowbray, and it still has an unimpeded view of the river that runs in front of it, much as it did in the 18th century. A little family burial vault, once badly vandalised, also survives on the site. Sometime before 1850, six adults were buried there, one of which was still sporting a head of hair when archaeologists opened the coffin!
On the opposite side of the Liesbeek are the remnants of another once-extensive farmstead – Coornhoop (now housing the Centre for Conflict Resolution) in Dixton Road, Mowbray – restored by the Simon van der Stel Foundation in the 1960s. The central structure is a beautiful pedimented dovecot, added in 1797, that joins two earlier barns together (with thick walls made of koffieklip and blocks of old ant heap). The rear wing of the main homestead (once the home of mining magnate Harry Struben is still standing to the left, although it was once larger (with a typical H-shaped ground plan).
Sadly, the huge barn that stood to the left of the house, reputedly one of South Africa’s oldest structures, was demolished, along with some other buildings on the werf, to make way for the Settler’s Way highway.
During its long history, Coornhoop was owned by a typical cross-section of Cape Town residents, from wealthy Dutch burghers to freed slaves (such as Robert Schot van Bengal, after whom Schotschekloof was reputedly named). It was here in the Liesbeek Valley that the Brits and Gerrits families, who together owned the farms Coornhoop, Liesbeek and Raapenberg, also intermarried with people of slave ancestry, including Claas Jonasz van de Kaap, forming a family enclave along the river.
On the opposite side of Molenvliet Road are two more old houses – built on what had once had been part of Coornhoop – that predate the multi-storey flats and ever-encroaching townhouses nearby. Molenvliet (not its original name), with its floor-to-ceiling Georgian sash windows and side gables ‘supported’ by decorative pilasters, stands behind high walls, but it was once the dairy and jonkershuis (later joined together to form one house) of the adjacent 18th-century homestead, Westoe.
Tucked away at the end of Westoe Road, the house of the same name is a beautiful Cape Dutch homestead that would look at home in the Stellenbosch winelands. This beautiful house, which was built (or enlarged) by Francois Pieter de Necker in the 1780s, narrowly escaped demolition during the mid-20th century, when concerned local residents Jonathan Wood and Denis Clack had the foresight to save it and restore it (it had been neglected and badly altered, and its gables had long-since been shorn off).
Not far away, in Lower Wrensch Road, stands Wrensch House. Probably once thatched and gabled, and originally having its own windmill (similar to Mostert’s Mill), it was originally the Onderneming farmhouse, renamed when it was bought by the Wrensch family in the 19th century. They were responsible for developing much of the suburb of Observatory on the old wheatfields and pastures that had been part of the estate.
Closer to Station Road is the double-storeyed central building of the YMCA. Few are aware that the bones of this house are ancient. It was once a Cape Dutch house called Bellevliet (hence the road of the same name that runs to the side of it), that was given a second storey in the first half of the 19th century and turned into an elegant Georgian home; at the time one of the only double-storey houses along the river. It once had a wonderfully rustic thatched and gabled barn and vineyard that stood beside it, both sadly now gone.
Partially obscured by a boardwalk in the courtyard of the northern building of Black River Park office complex are the excavated stone foundations of another historic building. Varsche Drift was possibly built as a hunting lodge and country retreat for wealthy gentlemen, before being extended and altered to become a farmhouse and family home. Sadly this interesting building was torn down in the 1960s after lying vacant for some time. It stood adjacent to Malta House (painted by artist Pieter Wenning in 1918 and demolished in the 1940s), once the homestead of Uitwijk estate (which was later cut up to make way for railway buildings, factories and sports fields).
The Malta Park sports fields were originally part of this old property, which dated back to the 1660s. These fields were once ploughed by slaves, who had to do the heavy farm work in damp, boggy and difficult terrain; they also had to keep an eye out for hippos and the occasional lion and leopard on the prowl. Before them, the Khoi people had used the area to graze their cattle and hold religious ceremonies (until the VOC granted the land to European free burghers and forced them away from their ancestral land by building forts, a fence and an almond hedge, leading to the First Khoikhoi-Dutch War in 1659, which occurred in the area).
Until recently, this land, rich in history, had unencumbered views of the river, where locals could walk freely and enjoy the open landscape. A newly built, unsightly fence has now completely destroyed its historical connection to the Liesbeek, and prevented Observatory locals from enjoying the open space. A pending development on the River Club site threatens to swallow up more of this open land, which may be rich in archaeological remains, from prehistoric indigenous burials to 17th- and 18th-century agricultural and domestic artefacts. The impressive tower of Nieuwe Molen (a huge windmill built in 1782), now blackened and forlorn, overlooks the scene on the opposite bank of the Black River.
Next time you explore Observatory and Mowbray on foot, or walk along the river, take a look at this historic neighbourhood and think of its rich heritage. It should be treasured for generations to come.
Jim Hislop is the author of Wheatfields & Windmills: The Old Homesteads & Farms of Observatory & Surrounds, and the founder of Cape Town Property Histories (a property research business), as well as the Facebook group, The Cape’s Threatened Buildings.