Elegant Places
Tours in Cape Town
www.elegantplaces.co.za
Address
10 Maori Lane Croydon Olive Estate. Somerset West. Cape Town. Western Cape. 7130Are you the owner or manager of this company?
What you should know about Elegant Places
in the world. These are the true 'gems' of the Cape, where you.
and high degree of standardisation of architecture is seen on where else.
Cape Dutch in style. Such consistency.
get access to the finest manor homes and farm houses.
The story of Cape Dutch Architecture is one of ingenuity, of beauty and of making-do. Diverse influences from medieval Holland and Germany, French Huguenots and Indonesia contributed to the graceful and unique style known as Cape Dutch Architecture. A small population mingling Eastern and European styles combined with local resources resulted in the elegant, reed thatch buildings found all over the Western Cape Province. The Dutch East India Company with a few hundred employees arrived at the base of Table Mountain to establish a provisions stop for passing ships. With the financial success of the provisions stop, a Dutch Governor was sent to The Cape to continue its development. The homestead remains one of the oldest examples of Cape Dutch Architecture in South Africa. The farm, still functioning today produces award winning wine and is open to the public. The Cape Dutch style also owes much of its existence to these artisans who designed many of the structures and built them without a single blueprint or plan. The bricks being locally produced weathered badly and importation of building materials from Europe was not financially viable; the round-trip to Amsterdam took a year, and such a voyage might take a third of the crew’s lives. Consequently, foreign ships, paying the local farmer’s high prices, outnumbered the Dutch three to one. Over the next 30 years, rule at the Cape changed hands numerous times and was finally fought for and won by the British. The majority of Cape Dutch buildings were erected during this time. Produce and cattle were farmed to supply passing ships and the employees living at the Dutch East India’s provisions stop. Built strictly out of necessity they were initially very basic and small. However, the most distinctive and uniquely defining characteristic of Cape Dutch Architecture is the central dormer gable. Each Cape Dutch building has an individualized gable with consistent features including; date of construction, molded decorations and a prominent centralized location. A Cape Dutch homestead is of course more than the sum of its central gable. The early Cape houses were built very symmetrically. Gables became more ornate and the size of homes increased. Later, another wing was added at right angels to the T and parallel to the original building creating ultimate design in country houses, the H-plan. Floors originally made of peach pips or compacted earth started to be covered in Robben Island slate, shutters were crafted to protect windows and stronger wood like ironwood was used in construction. A relentlessly symmetrical front, sensible floor plan, additional wings forming a U, T or H shape, reed thatch roof, white washed walls, raised stoop and a gable; these are the defining characteristics of a Cape Dutch home. These men were both free as well as slaves and were sent to neighboring farms to construct buildings. There is very little to indicate who built most structures.
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