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Glen The Swellendam, Western Cape

Date: 1812/1821 Client: Johannes Matthys Eberson Type: Homestead Style: Cape Dutch Status: Extant Street: 14 Glen Barry Street

This farm was granted to Johannes Matthys Ebersohn (originally Eberson: he was Scandinavian), who was assistant landdrost of Swellendam in 1799. He built a house there between 1812 and 1821, probably c1814. It has been suggested that this house was T-shaped, and that it was later enlarged and converted into an H. No real support can be found for this theory, but if the conversion did take place, it must have been the work of Jan Ferdinand Bam, jr, soon after he became owner in 1837 (he was 'vendumeester' - auctioneer - of Swellendam; his father was secretary of the drostdy). The gable is of the Kliprivier type, but is not the original one for there was once a dormer in its place. According to local tradition a certain Hendricks, a Muslim, built the front-gable in 1875; this is unlikely, but he may have repaired it. The architrave round the front door, which seems unrelated as a piece of design to the rest of the front, may have been his work, too. The external woodwork was replaced in the mid-19th century, except the fanlight of the front door. The interior woodwork - doors, ceilings and floors - was left intact. A high stoep, with a double flight of steps, runs in front and round the sides of the house. The thatch was replaced by iron, but with the eaves-line retained and, as elsewhere in Swellendam, with it the correct proportion of wall to gable. The house was since well restored by D Visser. Beside it stand two outbuildings, one of them a mill-house, now with a (new) mill-wheel. [De Bosdari p99.] [Fransen p463.] All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon.