The Bertram House ( af, Bertram Huis), located on Hiddingh Campus, of the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

on Government Avenue, in

Gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

, is the only surviving unpainted red brick two-story house left from early

Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...

in the city. The house has a special place in the history of the South African architecture. In 1962, it was declared a national monument, and today remains a provincial heritage site in accordance with the National Heritage Resources Act (25/1999). In 1839, John Barker, an attorney who had emigrated from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

in 1823, purchased the land. He built his family home there from 1839 to 1854 and named it after his wife, Ann Bertram Findlay, who had died in 1838. After the house passed through several families, the University of Cape Town used it for offices from 1903 onward. In 1930, the building became state property, and in 1976, it was placed at the disposal of the South African Cultural History Museum. In 1983 and 1984, the building was thoroughly restored. Ornamental bricks were introduced and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

was imported from

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

to bring the facade to its original glory. At the same time, the interior was repainted in the original dark green and ocher. The lobby is decorated in the

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

style. Since then, it has operated as a museum. The museum is the home of the Anne Lidderdale Collection, which includes Georgian furniture and English and Chinese porcelain donated by some of the leading English families of the early 19th-century Cape. Nowadays,

beadwork Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary b ...

and

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s are exhibited, and the building is known for book launches and music concerts.

Sources

* Oberholster, J.J.. ''Die historiese monumente van Suid-Afrika''. Cape Town: Die Kultuurstigting Rembrandt van Rijn vir Die Raad vir Nasionale Gedenkwaardighede, 1972. .

References

External links

* {{Authority control Houses in Cape Town Museums in Cape Town University of Cape Town buildings Residential buildings completed in 1854