Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Gresham Buildings Central Cape Town, Western Cape John PARKER: Architect 1891 facade

Date: n.d. : 1891 Type: Town Houses Status: Adaptive re-use   Click to view map Coordinates: 33°55'27.25" S 18°25'16.43" E Alt: 31m

Extant but divided into three buildings. This building was the central portion of a 2-storey, 5-bay building which was apparently an 18th-century townhouse, converted to commercial use around 1820. After housing an hotel for many years, it was divided into shops and stores. The sections at the extreme left- and right-hand ends were sold in 1891 and 1883 respectively, leaving the central 3-bay portion, occupied by Gresham Insurance Company. They built a new façade, designed by Parker, in 1891. Photos in Picton-Seymour (1977 : 86 and 88) show iron cresting incorporating the name 'Gresham Buildings' and the company emblem above the parapet, and an iron verandah/balcony with the usual decorative columns. The building was divided into three shops, which were sold off as separate buildings in 1903, and later altered by their respective owners. They were : Jacot's (later Kottler's Curios), C.H. Pearne & Co and Cuthbert's (later Fabians). (Arthur Radburn, August 2023)