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Dudley Court
Rosebank, Johannesburg, Gauteng
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Click to view map Coordinates: | This building was demolished illegally in 2001. It was an excellent example of a small suburban 'maisonette' in the Deco-Moderne Style. William MARTINSON was subpoenaed by the State to be the expert witness to testify about the age of building, the architect Justus VAN DER HOVEN was charged and convicted. Read the Press Release issued by SAHRA. ______________________________ DUDLEY COURT, PETER PLACE, VILLA GUY Architectural description of three Art Deco blocks of flats, in Seventh Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg. The original core of the development comprised two double storey blocks of flats on Stand 485, designed in 1936 by the architect, A.A. Ritchie McKinley, for a Mrs. M. Udwin. The two buildings were to become known as Dudley Court (east block) and Peter Place (west block). Described on the original submission drawings as “Maisonettes”, the two blocks had identical plans at both ground and first floor. The internal plan layout of each block was symmetrical around the centralised staircase hall, which enabled access into the two flats on each floor. Each flat was planned with a small entrance hall, a living room with balcony, kitchen and two bedrooms separated by a small bathroom. The front, side and rear elevations of each block were also identical to one another. McKinley incorporated typical features of the Art Deco “Moderne” style including corner windows, rounded balconies, bracketed flagpoles, projecting surrounds to the windows and a string course to the front parapet wall. By June 1943, the property had presumably been sub-divided and sold, as an application was made by the new owner, S. Shepherd-Folker to construct a second floor onto the two existing buildings. This alteration was designed by Mr. McKinley’s partner, the better-known architect, P. Rogers Cooke, and involved the replication of both the plan and the elevations to create a unified whole. By September 1943, a further application was made by Shepherd-Folker to construct a three-storied extension to the west of the west block, effectively creating a third block of flats. Again, designed by Rogers Cooke, the new building addressed the corner of Seventh Avenue and First Avenue. Similar detailing was used, and the result was a unified and complete composition of three separate blocks of flats. The third block was to become known as Villa Guy. Apart from minor changes, the three blocks had survived substantially intact and were an excellent intact example of small-scale suburban “maisonettes” in the Art Deco Moderne Style. WILLIAM MARTINSON Original text compiled on 15 September 1997 for the (then) National Monuments Council, re-issued on 8 December 2003, revised April 2025. |
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