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Historical Homes of South Africa Limited
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The company 'Historical Homes of South Africa Limited', with a nominal share capital of R1m, was registered on 31 March 1966. Their aim was forceful and positive action which had become an urgent necessity if the rapidly shrinking number of historical buildings still remaining in South Africa were to be preserved for posterity,
The aims of the company are to acquire, restore and put out to lease buildings which, by virtue of their historical or aesthetic interest, form a link with the past, and which are in danger of being demolished. In this way the care and preservation of a priceless, irreplaceable heritage are conducted in accordance with business principles. The company was launched by the Rembrandt Tobacco Company, who invested R50 000 in it. To this initial capital Sanlam and the Anglo American Corporation each added a similar amount. Five years after its founding, 555 000 shares of R1 each had been issued to 174 shareholders, among whom were 136 private persons and 38 companies.
By October. 1971 the company had acquired 43 historic buildings, of which 29 had already been repaired or restored and put out to lease under contract. Among these are Parel Vallei (1699), Somerset West, built by Frans, younger brother of Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel; Morkel House (1700-70), Stellenbosch (a wine cellar where divine service was held from 1711 to 1723 after the local Dutch Reformed church was burnt down, forms part of this graceful, restored dwelling); Groot Paardevlei, Somerset West, farm allotted to Frans van der Stel in 1702; the Drostdy (1752), the Old Pastorie (1760), and Vredelust (1791-1814), Stellenbosch, the home of the Krige-family; the Old Boys' School (1825), Swellendam (now serving as a school and hostel for boys who require specialised care and education); Stretch Court (Drostdyhof, 1834-58), Graaff-Reinet: ten picturesque slave cottages built after the emancipation of the slaves by CR Stretch, owner of the Drostdy Hotel, for former slave families who were in his employment; 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 Cross Street, Grahamstown (1848), original dwellings of British Settlers on Settlers Hill; the Old Baptist Mission Church (1853), King William's Town, built by soldiers in a period of 'armed peace' between two frontier wars; and 10 and 12 Castle Hill, two of the oldest existing British Settler homes in Port Elizabeth. [Edited from SESA Vol 5 'FOR_HUN':527-528].