Cape
Dutch Architecture - The Little Provisions Stop That Did
By Nicole
Crozier
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| Africa ends where Cape
Town begins. Beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountain range, across rolling
hills and flat plains extending out to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans sits
the oldest city in South Africa. For more than 3 centuries travelers and
adventures from all over the globe have come to the most southern tip of
the African continent for rest and often have found themselves a new home.
The 12 peaks of the Apostle’s Mountain range and the city’s prominent landmark
Table Mountain both overlook glorious white sand beaches and places of
culinary delights with superb wine and hospitable people. These are but
a few of the characteristics which help define the city’s spirit. Incomparable
beauty and modern pleasures are noteworthy reasons why Cape Town currently
tops international tourist destination lists. Alas, often absent from these
lists is the elegant and one of a kind architecture within and surrounding
the city. Diverse influences from medieval Holland and Germany, French
Huguenots and Indonesia contributed to the graceful and unique style known
as Cape Dutch Architecture. A small population mingling Eastern and European
styles combined with local resources resulted in the elegant, reed thatch
buildings found all over the Western Cape Province. These Cape Dutch Homesteads
are not a product of a formal school of architecture but instead were created
out of necessity and designed from the creative minds of their craftsmen. |
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From the wind swept Atlantic fishing
cottages to inland farm -houses bordered by lush wine lands, dark thatch
roofs have protected white washed buildings for centuries. Today, Cape
Dutch Architecture continues to landmark the Western Cape Province and
many buildings continue to function as homes for farmers. Others have been
converted into museums, restaurants and guesthouses for the rapidly growing
tourist industry in South Africa. Many farmsteads and wine estates are
open to the public to be enjoyed by today’s travelers and adventurers.
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History of the Cape
On the 6th of April, 1652, the first
adventurers
disembarked at the Southern tip of Africa with economic intentions. The
Dutch East India Company with a few hundred employees arrived at the base
of Table Mountain to establish a provisions stop for passing ships. Fresh
produce and meat were farmed and made available to weary sailors whose
travels from Europe to Eastern markets and back again were demanding. Many
men lost their lives on these merchant journeys due to disease and treacherous
weather conditions. Sailors were grateful for the provisions stop at the
meeting place of the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, also known as, ‘The
Cape of Storms.’
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| Four centuries ago
the Dutch East India Company (VOC) gained the monopoly of trade from the
Dutch Republic with Asia and expanded to become the greatest shipping and
trading company in the world during the 17th and 18th centuries. Through
the trade in pepper and cinnamon and, later on, in products such as silk,
tea and porcelain the VOC gave the Netherlands a period of unprecedented
economic and cultural prosperity.
From the book - The
Dutch East India Company - - By Femme Gaastra - The text
is enriched with many, often unique illustrations, many in colour and with
tables full of interesting information. The Dutch East India Company is
a fascinating account of the founding, expansion and decline of the VOC,
an extensive trading empire that was directed by Dutch merchants of international
standing. |
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| With the
financial success of the provisions stop, a Dutch Governor was sent to
The Cape to continue its development. The first thing Simon van der Stel
did was to send out scouting parties to find fertile mountain soil. He
was interested in the cultivation of grapes. Today he is known as the father
of one of the country’s most significant industries and cultural identities;
wine.
In 1685 he selected his farm and
called it Groot Constantia. Van der Stel selected a plot with fertile soil
and a view of the Cape flats stretching out to the Indian Ocean. The homestead
remains one of the oldest examples of Cape Dutch Architecture in South
Africa. The farm, still functioning today produces award winning wine and
is open to the public. Visitors can explore an antique furniture and local
history museum, wander the lush grounds, have a meal at Simon’s Restaurant
and admire the more than three centuries old Cape Dutch buildings from
both inside the thatch roofed rooms and the uniquely designed exterior
gables.
Gable – the triangle formed by a
sloping roof. A building may be front-gabled or
side-gabled. Porches and dormers
may also be gabled.
In the 1700’s the population of the
company’s provisions stop began to grow. European immigration and
the approved slave policy (1717) increased the number of settlers to the
Cape dramatically. Thousands of Malay individuals from the Dutch colony
of Indonesia arrived in the Cape as did hundreds of French Huguenots. The
arrival of the French Huguenots brought wine cultivation and the Indonesians
brought artisan skills.
When King Louis XIV revoked the Edict
of Nantes, providing religious tolerance in France, many Huguenot (protestant)
refugees made their way to Holland. The Governor of the Cape, Simon Van
der Stel requested that any individuals with wine farming experience be
provided passage to his settlement. Roughly 200 arrived and set out to
establish the wine industry. The Cape Dutch style owes much of its existence
to the French Huguenots for bringing with them contemporary European design
ideas and incorporating them into farmsteads. |
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Groot
Constantia Front Gable
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The dissimilar design styles, lifestyle,
food and religion of the Malay slaves played a major role in the cultural
and architectural development of Cape Town. These influences today are
an integral part of society. The Cape Dutch style also owes much of its
existence to these artisans who designed many of the structures and built
them without a single blueprint or plan.
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Groot
Constantia End Gable
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The Cape flourished as French, English,
Danish, American, Portuguese, Austrian, Spanish, Swedish and Prussian ships
filled the harbor. Provisions prices doubled, tripled and doubled again;
the local farmer was doing well for himself. As more and more immigrants
arrived to stay, the population growth became increasingly demanding on
the natural resources. Shortly all of the timber within wagon-haul had
been cut. The bricks being locally produced weathered badly and importation
of building materials from Europe was not financially viable; the round-trip
to Amsterdam took a year, and such a voyage might take a third of the crew’s
lives. So, in 1778 the first exploratory mission up the Indian Ocean on
the east coast of Africa was organized. The journey proved sailors’ tales
to be true. The great forests of Knysna and Plettenberg Bay had enormous
trees thrice as high as a ship’s mast! It wasn’t long before Yellowwood,
Stinkwood and Ironwood were made available for beams, door-panels, ceiling
and floor-boards, as well as for furniture.
This discovery was a great and final
contribution to the Cape by the Dutch East India Company. By 1780, Holland
was declining as a Maritime power. Consequently, foreign ships, paying
the local farmer’s high prices, outnumbered the Dutch three to one. The
Company was heading towards ruin and in 1793 became insolvent. The Cape’s
future was uncertain.
During the Knysna and Plettenberg
forest
discoveries, Britain and Holland were at war (1780-1783). A British fleet
sailed to take ownership of the Cape but was attacked and disabled by the
French. As a result two French regiments arrived in the Cape. One of the
men, Louis Michel Thibault, a Parisian architect, decided to make the Cape
his new home. During his lifetime, he contributed significantly to Cape
Dutch architecture and his name is attached to many exquisite buildings
including the gables (not part of the original construction but added later)
to Groot Constantia, the lions at the Castle and the magistrate in Tulbagh. |
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Over the next 30 years, rule at
the Cape changed hands numerous times and was finally fought for and won
by the British. In 1814 the Cape Colony formally belonged to Britain. Cape
Town continued to grow as a port and became known as the, ‘Tavern of Seas’
for all passing vessels. Outside of town, villages formed around churches.
The majority of Cape Dutch buildings were erected during this time. As
the 19th century progressed so did the economy and in turn the ornate manner
of the homes and specifically their gables. Cape Dutch style flourished
for the remainder of the century before losing its popularity to neo-classical
architecture.
The Development of a Style
The entire motive for the existence
of the Cape was agricultural. Produce and cattle were farmed to supply
passing ships and the employees living at the Dutch East India’s provisions
stop. Consequently, homes were needed for the farmers and merchants. Built
strictly out of necessity they were initially very basic and small. Using
the humble materials available; roofs were made of wild reeds, indigenous
wood was used for frames and support beams while the walls were clay, thick
rubble or burnt brick. Sea shells provided the basis for lime-motor and
floors were often made with compacted peach pips or left earthen.
With minimal technology and a low
availability of local materials, building was limited. This resulted in
basic structures being only 6 meters wide and having a consistent roof
pitch of 45 degrees. In order to build larger homes, buildings were extended
in Northern European longhouse fashion. This is one of the reasons why
many consider Cape Dutch Architecture to be based on Northern European
style. However, the most distinctive and uniquely defining characteristic
of Cape Dutch Architecture is the central dormer gable. There is no other
style that can claim this prominent feature as theirs. Each Cape Dutch
building has an individualized gable with consistent features including;
date of construction, molded decorations and a prominent centralized location.
It was in the first half of the 18th century that the gables began to appear
in their variety of styles and decorations. They were created largely by
the Malay craftsmen and the completely non-European carvings indicate this.
As the economy and population grew
in the Cape so did the ornate manner of gables, the size of the homesteads
and the value of materials used. It was the gable however which came to
represent the financial wealth of the settler. The signature social status
of wealth, of ownership, of individuality, of dominance and power over
the landscape and social structure is what gables came to represent. The
approximate date of a building can be surmised at first glance of the central
gable. The more elaborate the design work, the later the date of construction.
Gables can also be classified chronologically in order of their development;
earlier gables of the late 1600’s and early 1700’s were Lobed or curvilinear
before
moving into concave or convex shapes. Followed by transitional styles and
finally in the late 1800’s into Neo-Classical style, before their demise.
A Cape Dutch homestead is of course
more than the sum of its central gable. The early Cape houses were built
very symmetrically. At the front, the central door was the builder's focal
point and on either side, equally spaced, were two half-windows with two
or four full-width windows. Most homes had a room at the entrance, rooms
on both sides and a back room. The kitchens had open fireplaces and a Dutch
oven fitted with iron bars to hold cooking pots. In town, chimneys were
ruled out because of the threat of fire.
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Cape Dutch Farms & Vineyards
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Cape Dutch Farms & Vineyards
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Cape Dutch Farms & Vineyards
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By the mid-18th century as prosperity
increased so did the elaborate nature of homes. Gables became more ornate
and the size of homes increased. Homeowners began to add wings onto both
ends of their basic structures. The result was the U-plan. At about the
same time, the T-plan was evolving in the rural areas. This model had a
single wing, with the kitchen at the end and was attached like a tail to
the centre of the basic building. Later, another wing was added at right
angels to the T and parallel to the original building creating ultimate
design in country houses, the H-plan.
During this architectural transformation,
materials changed as well. Floors originally made of peach pips or compacted
earth started to be covered in Robben Island slate, shutters were crafted
to protect windows and stronger wood like ironwood was used in construction.
Later still, outbuildings began
to appear. These included a jonkershuis (house for the eldest son), stables,
a coach-house, slaves' quarters and a wine cellar. A wall typically encircled
the whole farmyard. Often farms were magnificently placed against mountain
backdrops and surrounded by agricultural lands presuming a ceremonial quality.
Arriving at gateposts which mark the beginning of a tree lined avenue,
following beneath the canopy towards an opening in a white, waist high
wall to reach a set of stairs leading onto a porch and front door beneath
a uniquely molded gable. This is the experience of entering a Cape Dutch
home. It remains the very same as it has for hundreds of years. A relentlessly
symmetrical front, sensible floor plan, additional wings forming a U, T
or H shape, reed thatch roof, white washed walls, raised stoop and a gable;
these are the defining characteristics of a Cape Dutch home. |
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The graceful
buildings that stand as a testament to the skill and strength of the Cape’s
past also carry secrets. Who built them? Who designed them? There is a
certainty that a few men, notably, Louis Michel Thibault from France, Anton
Anreith, a young sculptor and woodcarver from Germany and Hermann Shutter,
a young architect and builder also from Germany, contributed much to the
Cape Dutch style and the development of the settlement. However, the truth
is that most of the architecture of the period is anonymous.
The farmer of the 18th century led
a patriarchal existence: farms were isolated, communications incredibly
slow; and communities did all the work required to keep a farm going, including
building. Wealthy farmers often had a staff of artisans which included
masons, smiths, wagon-wrights and cabinet makers. These men were both free
as well as slaves and were sent to neighboring farms to construct buildings.
This system would account for identical gables on different homesteads
and the ‘home made’ construction results. It is not uncommon for a Cape
Dutch building to have unleveled floors, door and window frames. There
is very little to indicate who built most structures. This unique
style owes much of its elegance and grandeur to the unknown architects. |
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| The decline of the Cape
Dutch Style began in the 1840s. With the introduction of spine walls it
became possible to construct wider buildings. Homesteads were facing erosion
intensified by the porous brick walls and flammable thatch roofs. Open
hearths in kitchens combined with the infamous southeast wind were the
cause of many destructive fires especially in towns. By the end of the
18th century many of Cape Town's thatched and gabled dwellings had vanished.
Flat roofed and often double storied houses began to appear. Today there
are only about 400 intact original Cape Dutch homesteads left in South
Africa. |
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Arriving
in southern South Africa one is guaranteed to encounter Cape Dutch Architecture.
There is no escaping the dark reed thatch roofs with the white washed walls
set against the sea and mountains. The style of these buildings is as unique
as their locations. In the cosmopolitan city of Cape Town, less examples
of the style exist however, they can be found. Inside an old church a centuries
old altar designed by Louis Michel Thibault stands. There are museums,
art galleries and offices sitting in-between Art Deco and contemporary
neighbors waiting to be stumbled upon. Yet, it is outside the city bowl
where the majority of Cape Dutch architecture is found. Simon Van der Stel’s
famous farm, Groot Constantia is a half hours drive south of the city centre.
Arriving beneath the tree lined avenue to approach the manor house there
is a feeling of having slipped back in time. The rolling lawns, Table Mountain
as a backdrop, grape vines stretching out in straight lines, the beautiful
Cape Dutch buildings and a glass of uniquely South African Pinotage; days
like these are the reason people stay in the Cape forever. To the North
of Cape Town are villages and wine estates with many fine examples of Cape
Dutch Architecture. The Boland is one of these areas. Its perimeters are
unclear but can be loosely defined by the fruit and produce farms in the
area. At the furthest reach of the Boland nestled in-between three mountain
ranges lies the town of Tulbagh. Home to 32 Cape Dutch National Monuments
- on one street! The little town hosts international guests all year long
in centuries old guesthouses and nourishes them with local gastronomic
delights. Stellenbosh, Paarl and Franshoek, famous for their internationally
acclaimed wines, Cape Dutch farm homes, delightful estates and decadent
food like an Ostrich fillet basted in a wild fig sauce with waterblommetjie
accompaniment. Unfortunately, waterblommetjie can only be described as
tasted so, only a trip to the Western Cape Province will provide a satisfactory
explanation.
Beyond the Hottentots mountain range,
across rolling hills and flat plains reaching out to the Indian and Atlantic
Oceans, the southern most tip of the African continent is home to the oldest
city in South Africa. Today, this international city protects its past
through architecture and invites travelers and adventurers from all over
the world to visit and if they love it enough, to stay. Over 300 years
ago, a population of less than 10 000 created their own architectural style;
Cape Dutch. Dominating the area for more than 200 years, the white washed
walls and gables topped with reed-thatch continue to be admired and replicated
for their distinctive characteristics. The story of Cape Dutch Architecture
is one of ingenuity, of beauty and of making-do. It is the story of the
little provisions stop that did. |
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