B A S I C   V E R N A C U L A R

A g t e r   C e d e r b e r g

Upon first siting of this grouping it seemed impossible to believe people lived in them, but the full washing lines, neatly laid out garden and well-trodden paths indicated that life was definitely going on. The houses are made with local reed, and then covered in sheets of corrugated iron. A local told us that as far as he knew the houses had been lived in by successive generations for something like 80 years. No electricity, no running water (only that obtained from the nearby Brandewynrivier) it is unimaginable that people still live so, well into the 21st century.

V e l d d r i f

K o p e r f o n t e i n

P i k e t b e r g

V e r m a a k l i k h e i d

Shacks on the banks of the Berg River, near Velddrif.

A colourful (gabled!) house in Koperfontein, imaginatively decorated.

A cottage on the slopes of the mountain  outside Piketberg.

Standing derelict for decades in the village of Vermaaklikheid.

​C e d e r b e r g   a n d   H e e r e n l o g e m e n t

Situated below the road to Wupperthal is another example of a homestead with basic amenities. Just where would water come from, for example?

A group of reed houses near Heerenlogement.

H o p e f i e l d

This hartebeeshuis is a reconstruction on the grounds of the public library in Hopefield. Details of its style and method of construction were obtained from residents who occupied a group which was demolished to make way for new, low cost housing.

K n y s n a

Farm 119: within the Knysna forests are a number of dwellings attributed to early residents who worked on the exploratory mines.

H e r m o n

A couple well into their 80s occupied this basic cottage on Rondeheuwel, with telltale signs of smoke licking from the doorway.

H o e r e e

Deep into the Hoeree Valley are a number of disused farm structures, this barn with its long pitched roof amongst them.

L e i p o l d t v i l l e

Part of the complex that constituted the farm Modderfontein, part of the village of Leipoldtville.

                                            P o r t e r v i l l e

An interesting arrangement on the stoep of an old house in Porterville. The size and shape (short and wide) of the front door suggests that this could be a very early construction.