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House Robinson - Stratford
Wierda Valley, Johannesburg, Gauteng
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Contact Artefacts | MenuHomeUpfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon | House Robinson - Stratford | | ||||||
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Click to view map Coordinates: | ESTABLISHMENT OF WIERDA VALLEY The establishment of the Township of Wierda Valley dates from the 1930's when the land comprising the Township was subdivided into 15 large residential erven and surveyed in May 1937 and February 1938. The General Plan of the suburb (1), was examined and passed by the Surveyor General on 22 August 1938. All of the erven had a site area in excess of 1 Morgen. It is very likely that the suburb took its name from Anna Notten (born Wierda), who together with her husband Simon Johannes Notten, are given as the original township owners. (2) DEVELOPMENT OF ERF 13 The original Erf 13, Wierda Valley, had an L-shaped outline but was subdivided into two portions, i.e. Portions 1 and 2 of Erf 13, in 1954. Erf 1/13 was surveyed in March 1954 (3), and was registered during the same year in the name of (Mrs) L. K. Robinson (4), who was married (presumably out-of-community-of property) to the Johannesburg architect Dan Robinson. The property was built on during the following year, when Wierda Road East, i.e. the road extending along the north boundary of the property was still called Linden Road. DESCRIPTION OF HOUSE The submission drawing prepared in 1955 by Dan Robinson - described a T-shaped house plan with the linear cross-bar of the T accommodating the study, lounge, bedrooms and bathrooms, a stoep and a porch. The stem of the T accommodated the dining room, servery and kitchen. The north elevation of the house was designed to face due north and as a consequence the house was not placed parallel to the site boundary, except for the small scale outbuilding (which accommodated two staff rooms) on the south boundary. A yard wall defined and controlled the space between the kitchen and the outbuilding. The roof was a simple double-pitched structure and was shown on the submission drawing to be covered with shingles. The house was clearly designed on a fairly limited budget and the rooms, while carefully placed and proportioned, had fairly restricted dimensions. The elevations utilized standard glazed steel windows and doors that wee available at the time. The ceiling in the lounge was sloping to follow the underside of a scissor truss while the rest of the house had normal trusses and flat ceilings. The external walls were detailed as painted brickwork with deeply raked square joints and flush jointed perpends – an architectural detail typical of houses of that time. A feature of the north elevation was a large rectangular panel of stonework to the Living Room wall and a substantial square stone chimney stack. The submission drawings record shingles as a roof covering. The house was originally planned for the WC's to be serviced by a septic tank and french drain and the waste fittings by a separate french drain. However, shortly after the house was built, the municipal waterborne sewerage system became available and a second drawing was submitted to the Local Authority describing the required pipework to bypass the septic tank and French drains and connect into the municipal sewer. ALTERATIONS In 1969 the main bedroom at the east end of the house was enlarged for the Robinson family and provided with an en-suite dressing room and bathroom. A large playroom (accessed via a narrow covered porch) was added to the south side of the main bedroom. The roof material for the addition was shown as Broseley tile which suggests that the shingle originally specified for the house was possibly omitted during the original construction. SUBSEQUENT ALTERATIONS In 1988 the property was owned by R. Greenberg and a substantial addition was made to the house with the insertion of a rectangular wing between the existing kitchen and the staff quarters. This comprised a new double garage, games room and a store. The architectural massing followed the existing scale with double-pitched roofs to tie into the existing. An open parking court was thereby created on the west side of the house. The property was subsequently acquired by (Mrs) N. Burde, and the submission drawing with respect to the changes to the kitchen and the installation of a Jacuzzi were prepared by the architect David Burde. The kitchen of the house was also to be substantially enlarged on the east side, with the kitchen yard wall modified to truncate the yard and allow the installation of a Jacuzzi. SUBSEQUENT OWNERSHIP In 2000 the property was registered in favour of Andrew Mark Gordon Corner and Michelle Louise Corner, who at the time were married out-of-community-of-property. (5). The property was purchased in 2001 by the present owner Paul Douglas Barrow, in whose name the property was registered in October 2001. (6) An extensive addition was subsequently made onto the north side of the house to create a very large living room based on drawings prepared by M-Architects. Various other internal alterations and additions were also made at the time. The result of the numerous alterations and additions over time created a house plan with minimal coherent planning and almost no extant original fabric. A high density three storey residential development is currently (2018) planned to replace the house. Footnotes: (1) S.G. Diagram No A.1397/38. Ref: (Submitted by William MARTINSON) |
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