Borrowdale is a
residential suburb in the north of
Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...
,
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
, which ranks among the most
affluent
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
and prestigious residential areas in the country. It forms part of the Northeast suburbs of the city of Harare, with a population of 20,312 as of the Zimbabwe 2012 Census.
Borrowdale is home to many notable schools, institutions, an arena, a pool, libraries and a number of
parks and the prestigious Borrowdale Race Course. Traditionally, the community of Borrowdale has been a wealthy and predominantly white,
anglophone
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
enclave, having been at one point the richest community in Zimbabwe. It now competes with other neighbourhoods such as of
Glen Lorne,
Chisipite
Chisipite, colloquially known as Chisi is an affluent residential suburb in northeastern Harare, Zimbabwe. It is bordered by Enterprise Road to the north and Eastern road to the east, and Greendale to the south to Lewisam to the west. Begun in ...
, Gunhill, Hogerty Hill, and Borrowdale Brooke, for the title.
The area is made up of the sub-neighbourhoods of Helensvale, Borrowdale Brooke, Philadelphia, Balentien Park, Crowhill Views, Unidale and Pomona.
The suburb has numerous
high-end
In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast t ...
shopping areas such Sam Levy's Village and Borrowdale Brooke Centre. The area is one of the most sought after and expensive places to live in Harare. There are private schools within the area which include
St. John's College,
St. John's Preparatory School and The Heritage School.
History
Borrowdale was named after an early merchant named Henry Borrow. Borrow set up the area as an estate that combined residential and farming areas. The estate consisted of 22,275 hectares of land spreading out northwards. The estate was purchased at the price of 17.5 cents per hectare. Borrow worked with his colleagues Heany and Johnson to produce vegetables and other products on the farm.
Borrow built a
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
on the Borrowdale Brooke
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
in 1892 – the first in Rhodesia – and started to grow a variety of crops for the nascent town. The dam was used for many years for irrigation but was subsequently destroyed in 1939 after serious flooding.
In 1897, the area was acquired by United Goldfields Company which briefly ventured into livestock production but the enterprise was a failure. The area was then developed into residential plots and this resulted in the emergence of residential estates such as Helensvale, Hatcliffe, Greystone Park, Quinnington, and Glen Forest.
During the twentieth century, Borrowdale became a wealthy suburb; a then wooded, residential enclave dotted with many green spaces. It is known for its notable residents including many members of parliament, intellectuals, business people, ambassadors, and other professionals. The list included the former president Robert Mugabe whose home is known as the "Blue Roof," one of the largest properties in the area.
Character
Borrowdale is one of Harare's most exclusive residential neighborhoods. The neighbourhood is situated at a higher altitude than areas to the south with a number of gently rolling hills, parks, and the Borrowdale Brooke stream. Borrowdale's shops, schools and recreational facilities are located the southern part of the suburb. The majority of residents in this neighborhood own several properties either abroad or in rural parts of the country such as, the
Mazowe Valley,
Mashonaland East and the scenic
Eastern Highlands
:''"Eastern Highlands" also refers to Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, and part of the Great Dividing Range, Australia.''
The Eastern Highlands, also known as the Manica Highlands, is a mountain range on the border of Zimbabw ...
region near
Mutare.
The shops and restaurants in the Sam Levy's Village and Borrowdale Road area, are well patronized by Borrowdale residents. This shopping district includes clothing stores, sporting goods stores, gyms, gift shops, bakeries, restaurants and cafes.
Notable institutions located in or adjacent to Borrowdale are the Borrowdale Brooke Golf Club, and Borrowdale Country Club.
Homes
Borrowdale's houses include a variety of architectural styles including
English Cottage,
Tudor Revival
Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...
, Cape Dutch, and modern postwar designs. Most of these homes were built between the late 1940s and 1980s. Since the late 2000s, the area has become the leading destination for non-resident Zimbabwean and foreign buyers, driving up prices far beyond average incomes and accessible to only the wealthiest of local residents. As a result of the new development, parts of Borrowdale have been redeveloped with larger houses which do not match the scale of the original housing in the neighbourhood.
In the first part of 2018, the average resale house price in the neighborhood was $530,036, higher than any Harare neighborhood other than Hogerty Hill and Borrowdale Brooke.
By the mid-2010s, the number of people
squatting in
informal settlements
Informal housing or informal settlement can include any form of housing, shelter, or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state. As such, the inform ...
was growing.
Cityscape
Most of the area is residential. Homes increase in size and value toward the north, with the largest and most expensive being on its northern fringes towards Hogerty Hill and Shawasha Hills.
There are several small commercial districts such as Sam Levy's Village from the areas's western boundary, Rowland Square in central Borrowdale and Borrowdale Brook Centre to the northeast of the suburbs.
Borrowdale Adjacent or Borrowdale West is a term applied by realtors to a districts of Pomona and Rolf and Colne Valleys in order to promote these areas as matching Borrowdale's affluence and desirability to outsiders.
Parks
There are several parks within Borrowdale, including Ballantyne and Greystone Park (not to be confused with the neighbourhood of the same name). A scenic
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...
area is located at Sandringham Drive, within ZimParks and Shire Gardens.
Education
Throughout the 20th century, the concentration of wealth in Borrowdale sparked the growth of many prestigious public and
private school
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
s in and around the neighborhood. One of the first schools was the
St. John's College.
Borrowdale is also home to several private schools, including, Westminster International, Borrowdale Academy,
St. John's College,
St. John's Preparatory School,
St. George's College, Harare,
Hartmann House Preparatory School
Hartmann House Preparatory School (or Hartmann House, also referred to as HH) is an independent, preparatory, day school for boys in Harare, Zimbabwe. The school was founded in 1957 and named after Fr Hartmann SJ, a chaplain to the Pioneer Colu ...
and
The Heritage School, Zimbabwe.
Sports
Borrowdale is home to Borrowdale Race Course, the third ground in Zimbabwe to be built specifically for
horse racing. It is one of the most prestigious race courses in Zimbabwe and it hosts a number of international competitions such as the OK Grand Challenge run by OK Zimbabwe Limited. The Castle Tankard, which is the oldest horse race competition in Zimbabwe, is one of the major annual events which takes place at race course which is located on the heart of Borrowdale.
[https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/40aeba0f-dc35-4096-b213-447328c254db/1/Harare%20-%202017%20-%20Mbiba.pdf ]
Other amenities include, a half Olympic swimming pool,
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
grounds, refurbished
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
courts, and acres of green space. Borrowdale is also home to
St. John's College, which has produced a disproportionate number of the country's cricket and
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
players, through its high school teams known as ''the Rams''.
Borrowdale is also home to one of the oldest active
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
clubs in
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
, Old Georgians Rugby Club.
Borrowdale is the birthplace of tennis star siblings,
Wayne Black
Wayne Hamilton Black (born 17 November 1973) is a former professional tennis player from Zimbabwe. The son of former player Don Black, Black turned professional in 1994 and reached his highest singles ranking of 69 on 30 March 1998. He is the y ...
,
Cara Black
Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF doubles titles. A former doubles world No. 1, she won ten major titles. By ...
and
Byron Black.
References
{{Authority control
Suburbs of Harare
Harare