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Date: 1794 Client: Hendrik van Volenhoven - Antonie Faure (builder) Type: Farmhouse Style: Cape Dutch Status: Extant Street: Farm Rotterdam   Click to view map Coordinates: 34°03'45.35" S 20°31'41.42" E Alt: 61m

Although the farm was previously inhabited by Landrost Horak in the mid C18 it was only granted as a loan-farm by 1783. Landdrost Antonie Faure acquired it in 1794 (the date on the main gable) and turned it into a prosperous show farm. Various changes or alterations were made to the original structure including the possible addition of a wing to create a T-plan layout. It is said that the front door was appropriated from the powder magazine of the Swellendam Drostdy but its style does appear appropriate for that purpose, so it is presumed that the story is apocryphal. The building has been extensively restored, although much of the woodwork is original. Transcription of English section of NMC plaque: ROTTERDAM This farm was granted to Hendrik van Vollenhoven in 1733. The house with its "holbol" gable, dated 1794, was erected by landdrost Antonie Faure. Visitors to the farm included Lady Anne Barnard, Governor Janssens, Gen. de Mist, Lichtenstein and J. A. Auge. Proclaimed 1983 National Monuments Council Books that reference Rotterdam Burrows, Edmund Hartford . 1994. Overberg Odyssey : people, roads and early days. Swellendam: Privately printed in co-operation with the Swellendam Trust. pg 30, 42, 123 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 466 Swellendam Heritage Association. 2018. Treasures of Swellendam. Swellendam: Swellendam Heritage Association. pg 80 entry 111