Rawson Properties’ Hermanus franchise has sold one of the oldest of the historic homes on the seafront in Voëlklip for R15,3 million - reasonably close to the list price of R16,9 million. The Rawson Properties agent who handled the sale was Ronnie Young.
“Any sale of a home in the Golden Mile area and/or close to the Hermanus Golf Course is always news,” said Peter Greyling, Rawson Properties’ franchisee for Hermanus, “but this sale is especially noteworthy because this home has such a long and illustrious history.”
Back in the early 1900s, said Young, Oupa de Wet, a patriarch of the de Wet family who farmed at Goudini, bought several plots on 10th Street in Voëlklip. Initially the de Wets, when holidaying in Hermanus, stayed in a hotel or a boarding house but in 1921 they built this beach house. The construction method was revolutionary for the time and place, the walls being cast in solid concrete. Today one wall of the small enclosed kitchen, which was uncovered during recent renovations, still shows the round stones and shells from Kwaaiwater Beach, which were used in the concrete mix.
The house was given no foundations as it was built on solid rock. Behind the main house a “waenhuis” was added and has since then been converted. They also established a large vegetable garden on the plot, regularly bringing labourers down from Hermanus to cultivate it.
For many years the parents of Minnie Nel, who married Nooks Nel, who had bought the house from the estate, lived in it. In 1995 Pamela Nel, a former wife of Hannes Nel, established a guesthouse in the home and named it the Nelshof Blue Beach Guest House. She also undertook a major renovation, which took 22 months and was finally completed in October 1997.
The home is truly characterful, said Young, because the renovators did not attempt to modernize it too much. It still has an Overberg/Hermanus farmhouse feel to it.
Overlooking Walker Bay, the home has a typical Hermanus voorstoep along its entire front. Inside there are six bedrooms and four bathrooms in the main house and a separate flat or “waenhuis” which has its own bathroom and kitchen.
“Those who appreciate Cape farmhouse architecture and Edwardian architectural motifs will love this home,” said Young, “it has solid Oregon pine floors, wood strip ceilings, stained glass inserts in the doors and some of the windows and hanging lamps are of a kind not seen in the Cape for many years.”
The contents of the home were sold on auction recently.
Greyling added that throughout his five years as the Rawson Properties Hermanus franchisee, sales have been relatively slow in winter but have always taken off rapidly in spring – and already, he said, there are clear signs that this pattern is being repeated.
“There are also clear signs," he said, “as the Rawson Property Group’s Chairman, Bill Rawson, has indicated in another statement, that for the first time in three or four years we are once again seeing a renewed interest in top-of-the-range coastal properties such as this one – with some buyers surprisingly able to pay either the full price or at least half the price in cash. Interest from South African expatriates living all over the world is very strong and three have recently bought from us in the lower price ranges without even seeing the properties, basing their decisions purely on the strength of quality photographs, a large number of emails and Hermanus’ enduring reputation.”
