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| (Pryce-Lewis list 2 825; 2 826). 1900: Alterations [?] by R ESDON (Pryce-Lewis list 5 171). This women-only home was erected under the auspices of the Dutch Reformed Church. The foundation stone was laid by the mayor of Cape Town on 9 February 1882, and the building was opened on 16 April 1883. As a matter of interest, the mayor used the same silver trowel which Barend Artoys had used to lay the foundation stone for the Burgher Watch House in 1755. According to Dreyer's "Historisch Album van de Nederduitsche Gereformeerde Kerk in Zuid Afrika" (1907), the home contained a hall, a dining room, two rooms for the house-mother and thirty-nine more rooms, as well as a kitchen and two outbuildings. A small infirmary (three wards) was added later, for the general public as well as residents of the home. Such was the demand for accommodation, that a second almshouse ('Dorcas II') was erected next to the existing building ('Dorcas I') in 1901. The buildings occupied an entire city block, the entrance being on Bree Street. The City of Cape Town's Heritage Building Plans register (2013) lists five plans (excluding the original plan) for the building: 1893 : Dorcas Home almshouses -- G.M. Alexander architect The residents moved to Huis Luckhoff in Rosebank after World War II, and the old buildings were sold and converted into commercial premises. Aerial surveys show that they were demolished some time between 1958 and 1968. (Arthur Radburn, July 2025) References:
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