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Rathfelder's Hotel Diep Rivier, Western Cape Samuel STONESTREET: Architect rebuild 1869

Date: n.d.: 1869 Type: Hotel Status: Demolished Street: Alnwick Rd   Click to view large map Coordinates: 34°01'41.03" S 18°28'02.19" E Alt: 22m

Johann Georg Rathfelder was born in Stuttgart in 1811 and emigrated to the Cape in 1835. Following his marriage in the colony, he inherited a halfway-house near Wynberg, on the Cape Town-Simonstown road. Rathfelder's Inn, as it soon became known, was famous for its hospitality and in the 1840's became the headquarters of the Cape Hunt. It also became a popular destination for Cape Town day-trippers. The site, which was officially known as Halfway House, Simonstown Road, was also a mail-coach halt, and thus became the obvious location for a post office. Consequently when one was opened there on 7 September 1854, Rathfelder was appointed its first postmaster. When the inn was sold to WH Coghill in 1861, these duties were passed on to the new owner. Today the buildings house the Eaton Convalescent Home. (South African History Online, updated 18 April 2019) Note: Today (2021) the CPOA Rathfelder Retirement Village is on this site. References: MEIRING, AL. 1939. Acoustical correction problem. SA Architect Jun. pp 134