Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Kruger House - Second Boekenhoutfontein, Rustenburg district, North West

Date: 1872 Type: Farmhouse Status: Extant   Click to view large map Coordinates: 25°33'24.66" S 27°07'18.59" E Alt: 1208m

Kruger built his house, a substantial and elegant dwelling, in 1872. It has a strong Cape architectural feel - its style is Cape Dutch of the Colesberg area as Kruger had lived and worked in this area in his younger years. It is simple, white washed, well proportioned with two entrances and given some height by the upper attic floor and the stone foundation course with steps rising to the front stoep. This building was declared a National Monument in 1971 and is now a Provincial Heritage Site. It was restored by the Simon van der Stel foundation (today the Heritage Association of South Africa). I had a lucky break when back in Johannesburg and acquired a print of an oil painting by Gabriel De Jong; the print was sold prior to 1971 as a fundraiser for the restoration and is a nice connection to the past. By the 1970s the vision for the restoration was that Boekenhoutfontein and 35 morgen of the farm should become “the Groote Schuur of the north “. (Kedar Lodge - Heritage, History and Paul Kruger Kathy Munro, Saturday, October 20, 2018 in The Heritage Portal) See also: Bronkhorst House Kruger House - First - Museum. Read The Kruger Houses at Boekenhoutfontein April 17, 2022 by Vincent Carruthers on The Heritage Portal. Transcription of Blue Plaque: MAGALIESBERG CULTURE & HERITAGE SECOND KRUGER HOUSE Boekenhoutfontein Built by Paul Kruger in 1873, this double-story [sic] house with its flat roof is extremely unusual for the Transvaal. It resembles the style found in the Colesberg district of Cape Colony, where Kruger had lived until the age of ten. However, the construction methods are typical of those used in the Rustenburg district. The timber is Boekenhout (Beechwood), and the house has a traditional cow-dung and blood floor. Traces of the original wall- paper were found, as well as the blue paint on the bedroom walls, and these were carefully replicated during restoration. Kruger resided here with his large family until 1883 when he became President and moved to Pretoria. After this, he continued to visit Boekenhoutfontein regularly until he left South Africa in 1900. magaliesbergheritage.co.za