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Date: c1780-1834 Type: Farmhouse Status: Extant   Click to view map Coordinates: 33°59'28.44" S 18°46'07.89" E Alt: 27m

See more photographs The original farm that today is Welmoed was granted to a German speaking Swiss mercenary, Henning Hussing, by the VOC (Dutch East India Company) upon completion of his contractual tour of duty in the Cape. He named it Meer Lusthof (German for "idyllic farm by the sea", today Meerlust) describing the sense of pleasure he experienced when sea breezes blew inland from False Bay. Hussing took a portion of his enormous property and either gave or sold it to Jacobus van der Heyden, also a mercenary and to whom he was related. This portion later became known as Welmoed. In 1797 the farm was acquired by Pieter Gerhard van der Byl and after his death in 1831 was divided between his sons Philippus Johannes van der Byl who received the present Klein Welmoed, and Pieter Voltelen van der Byl who received the present Welmoed which is currently (2014) the Welmoed wine estate. (Fransen 2004:223-224) References: Fransen, Hans. 2004. The old buildings of the Cape. A survey of extant architecture from before c1910 in the area of Cape Town - Calvinia - Colesberg - Uitenhage. Johannesburg & Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers. pg 223-225 Hoefsloot, Ted (illustrations) & Pama, Cor (text). 1980. Cape Wine Homesteads. Johannesburg: AD Donker. pg 118, 119 ill