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House CW Dix: Dysart House
Parktown, Johannesburg, Gauteng
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Click to view map Coordinates: | The house is currently (2010) being used as offices. CULTURAL & HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The suburb of Parktown was established by The Braamfontein Company in 1892. Parktown's elevated position and its location to the North of the developing town of Johannesburg ensured that it would become the principal suburb of Johannesburg and it remained so after the Anglo-Boer War. Parktown was essentially a "Garden Suburb" managed by The Braamfontein Company to ensure the resident's desire for privacy and isolation. At a meeting of the Directors of The Braamfontein Company held on 22nd November 1910, it was minuted that Lot 212 Parktown, being 1 1/10 acre in extent, had been sold to CW Dix for the amount of £ 450-0-0, of which £ 200-0-0 was payable in cash with the balance payable by the end of the year. At the same meeting, a Building Loan of £1 750-0-0 was approved, which was to be repaid to the Company at £ 25-16-03 per month. The sale of Lot 212 to CW Dix was duly formalized in a Deed of Transfer dated 23rd February 1911. The Deed listed various special conditions, common to all the residential erven in Parktown, including that the Lot was sold for residential purposes only; that the owner was required to fence the Lot neatly and properly; and that the owner had no right to open a canteen, restaurant, shop or business. The new owner, Christopher William Dix, was employed as the Secretary of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WNLA). He was born in Adelaide, South Australia on 15th November 1868 and was educated at Christ's Hospital and Chatham House, Ramsgate. He married Emily Florence Geraldine Pilditch in Surrey circa 1893. The young couple immigrated to South Africa in 1895 and Dix was soon thereafter employed as an official of the Post Office of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. At the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in 1899, he refused to be commandeered for military service by the Boer forces. The Dix's secured their house in Op de Bergen Street, Troyeville, and left for Durban. His wife and young daughter then embarked for England where they remained for the duration of the war. Once hostilities had ceased, the Dix family returned to Johannesburg to find that the contents of their house had been stolen. A large claim for compensation was submitted by Dix to the British Government but only a fraction of this was finally approved. Dix joined the WNLA in October 1901 shortly after its inception and was soon appointed as Head of their Statistical Department. The primary object of the WNLA was to maintain a consistent supply of Black mineworkers for the Gold Mines on the Witwatersrand and reliable statistics were clearly invaluable. In November 1905 he was appointed as Acting-Secretary and in 1906 as Secretary. The Board of Management of the WNLA included, at various times, some of the most influential of the mining magnates of the Rand, such as Drummond Chaplin, Sir George Farrar, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, Julius Jeppe, William Dalrymple, George Albu and Raymond Schumacher. Most of these men had employed the architect Herbert BAKER to design their own houses, and it is perhaps not surprising that the practice of Baker and Fleming was employed in 1911 by the WNLA to design various minor alterations and additions to the WNLA Offices and Compound in Eloff Street. Dix represented the WNLA in their dealings with BAKER's practice and it is again not surprising that he met with BAKER and FLEMING on 30th December 1910 to discuss the design of a house on his newly purchased property - Lot 212 Parktown. Dix, in contrast to his Board of Management, clearly had limited means, but his architects were prepared to be accommodating as they wrote to Dix confirming that they were prepared to provide complete working drawings for the house for a fee of 2 ½ % of the contract price. They were however to be relieved of the ordinary responsibility of supervision. By February 1911, Baker and Fleming had completed the necessary drawings and had received prices from two established Johannesburg building contractors – GW Kelly and J Barrow in the total amount of £ 2 005-0-0 and £ 2 020-0-0 respectively. After various omissions were agreed to by Dix, Kelly’s reduced estimate of £ 1 831-14-0 for the house and stables was accepted and the contract forwarded to Dix for signature on 22nd March 1911. A condition of the Deed of Transfer required the property owner to submit the drawings to the Braamfontein Company for approval. Baker and Fleming duly submitted a copy of the blueprint of Mr. Dix’s house on 28th March 1911 and at a meeting of the Directors of The Braamfontein Company held on 11th April 1911 it was minuted that the plans submitted on behalf of Dix had been approved by the Company Manager. The duration of the contract was specified as fourteen weeks with a completion date of 14th June 1911. The contractor started on site early in March 1911 and for the duration of the work Baker's practice corresponded regularly to both Dix and Kelly. This correspondence provides most useful evidence of the construction process of the house. One of the first concerns of the architects was the choice of clay roof tile, and whether “Maritzburg” Brosely tiles were preferable to those made in Vereeniging. It was recorded in a letter dated 8th May that Dix had decided to have the same detail of wall-posts on either side of the ingle in both the Dining Room and the Drawing Room. The fireplaces in both rooms were also to be constructed to accommodate Dix’s own "dog-grates". On 16th May it was pointed out to Kelly that he should take special care in all the plastering to ensure that "blowing" did not take place. It was also pointed out that the roof on the south side of the building was to be carried over so as to provide a covered way to the Earth Closet (EC). Dix instructed the architects to prepare a detail for cupboards and shelves for the south side of the Playroom and pointed out that he had a "fitting" he wanted mounted onto the staircase newel post, which – the architects informed him – would require an additional teak block to be made. Dix was invited to select the necessary 3" x 3" (76 x 76mm) Bedroom fireplace tiles and the various bathroom and kitchen fittings. By the middle of June 1911 the architects suggested to Dix that he might install a trap door in the floor of the pantry, and that the Scullery and the EC could be left as they were, unceiled, showing the tiles with the rafters stained with carbolineum thereby creating a reasonable saving on the contract. The architects were unable to source any suitable door handles for the house and they prepared a simple design in wrought iron of which Mr. J Norman, an Art-Metal worker of Johannesburg, was instructed to make eight sets at a cost of £ 1-0-0 per set. All of the upstairs doors were to be provided with 4 ½" (114mm) Canadian latches and mortice dead locks. The architects provided Dix with Kelly's final account on 22nd September 1911. The final certificate was issued on 8th December where after Dix presumably took occupation. The only defective work that was pointed out by Dix to his architects was the unsatisfactory guttering. Kelly was duly requested on 10th January 1912 to ensure that his plumber rectified the falls and resealed the joints. The newly completed house was named "Abberton", possibly to remind the Dix's of one of the two small towns of Abberton (in Essex and in Worcestershire) with which they might have been familiar. The house comprised a Drawing Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, three Bedrooms, a Playroom, Pantry, Bathroom, Scullery and an Earth Closet (EC). This would have been ample accommodation for Mr. and Mrs. Dix and their two daughters. The family presumably kept horses, as was common practice in Parktown at that time, as the outbuildings included a stable. By September 1915 a Tennis Court had been completed. In the same year the City Valuer valued the land at £ 535-0-0 and the recently completed house and outbuildings at £ 1 660-0-0. Dix's health began to fail in August 1915 and shortly thereafter he was confined to bed until his untimely death on the morning of Wednesday 26th July 1916, aged only 48. His obituary, published in The Star, recorded that he was still employed by the WNLA and that he was widely known and respected in Johannesburg. His funeral service took place at St George's Church in Parktown at 2:30pm on Thursday 27th July where after the cortege left for the Brixton Cemetery. The "Report of The Board of Management" of the WNLA for 1916 noted that Dix had been in the employ of the Association almost since its inception and recorded their loss sustained by his death. Dix bequeathed all his possessions (in a short will) to his wife Emily. His estate included an amount of cash, various life policies, furniture and the property known as Lot 212 Parktown. The property was sold by private treaty for £ 2 400-0-0 to Dr JCG Macnab who was living at that time at 24 York Street in Berea. Dr Macnab also purchased some of Dix's furniture. He then either sold or rented his Berea house to Mrs. Dix as she was listed in contemporary Street Directories as 24 York Street from 1916 until 1920. James Crawford Gibb Macnab was born on 6th May 1865 at Shotts in Lanarkshire, Scotland where he received his schooling. He trained as a medical doctor and then specialized as an Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon. He came to South Africa in 1900, presumably as a Medical Officer in the British Army as he departed in 1902. He returned to South Africa in 1910 and two years later married Mabel Cookson. After taking occupation of the house on Lot 212 Parktown, the Macnabs renamed it "Dysart House". This was possibly to remind Macnab of "Dysart House", which had been built by the Earl of Rosslyn in the Town of Dysart – a coal-shipping port on the Firth of Forth in Scotland – and with which Macnab was presumably familiar. The Macnabs were to produce six children and by December 1918 they had (presumably of necessity) erected a double storey addition on the Western side of the house. This was sympathetically designed and was probably also the work of Baker and Fleming. It provided an additional five rooms at a total cost of £ 1 875-0-0. In 1921 the City Valuer made specific reference to the good quality of the garden and allocated the following values to the property: Outbuildings £ 350-0-0; Garden and Tennis Court £ 250-0-0; Value per room £ 330-0-0 (14 rooms); Value of land £ 400-0-0; Total Value of Improvements £ 5 220-0-0. Dr Macnab owned "Dysart House" until May 1934 when it was sold for £ 4 000-0-0 to Mrs. HCH Appleby and Mrs. E Stemmler who were then carrying on business under the style of "Appleby and Stemmler". Hubertine Christina Helena Appleby (b. Jesse 15th August 1876) and Elizabeth Stemmler (b. Schaefer 20th July 1900) were both born in Germany. They had purchased the property with the intention of running a private residential hotel under the name of "Dysart House". It is however possible that they had rented the property from Dr Macnab for a few years prior to them purchasing. There was clearly a demand for this type of hotel accommodation and a substantial addition was made to the rear of the house in June 1935. This addition comprised 25 Bedrooms, a large Dining Room, a staff Dining Room, Servery, Kitchen, Scullery, six Bathrooms, one Servants Room, five Lumber Rooms (in the attic) and seven Lock-up Garages. This created a total of 37 Bedrooms, seven Bathrooms, nine Garages and three Servants Rooms together with an existing conservatory. Appleby and Stemmler were presumably advised by a business consultant or lawyer to formalize their business arrangements and they duly sold Lot 212 in July 1948 to a company styled as Dysart House (Proprietary) Ltd for an amount of £ 3 9000-0-0. The movable assets were sold for an additional £ 6 860-0-0 and the good will for £ 1 500-0-0. Making a total of £47 360-0-0. Mrs. Appleby and Mrs. Stemmler each subscribed to 23 680 shares of £1-0-0 and Mrs. Stemmler agreed to act as the Managing Director for a period of 8 years. The first directors of Dysart House (Pty) Ltd were Mrs. Stemmler, Mr. N E Coker, Mr. W E Marsh and Mrs. M N Lerwil. Appleby and Stemmler also owned another boarding establishment called The Chalet on Lot 202 Park Town and a sale was concluded to a company called The Chalet with the same directors and a similar share subscription arrangement. In August 1948 the city valuer recorded, under general improvements – Lot 212, "a fish pond and a conservatory, brick walling to the frontage, a tarmac drive and a nicely laid out garden". He also recorded that the summer house was "actually being used as a garden lounge". Although the property had been used as a boarding house since 1934, it was only in 1951 that the necessary consent was obtained from the local authority, and only in 1953 that the property was actually re-zoned. In about 1963 a Mr. T S Evans, purchased the shares of the holding company and ran the boarding house for his own account. By 1969 Evans had also purchased the adjoining properties to the east, namely Lot 210 and Lot 211. In 1982 Lot 212 was re-zoned to 'Special', permitting a Conference Centre and a Restaurant with the consent of the Council. In February 1986 Dysart House (Pty) Ltd was sold to the Cologne Reinsurance Company of South Africa (Limited) for the amount of R1 650 000.00. The original house, the 1918 addition and a portion of the 1935 wing, have since been used by the Cologne Reinsurance Company as the head quarters of their South African operation, whilst the remainder of the improvements have been let out. A restaurant trading as "The Herbert Baker" has operated from the ground floor of the 1935 addition and the remaining space has operated as office suits. In 1995 a formal application was made to the National Monuments Council (NMC) for a demolition permit for the 1935 addition to Dysart House to enable the southern portion of the site to be developed. The 1935 addition was not considered by the NMC to be architecturally or culturally significant and the application for a demolition permit was duly approved at a meeting of the Johannesburg Plans Committee, held on 15 February 1996, conditional on a site development plan being submitted to the NMC for approval. A small scaled modern office block with two centralized courtyards was designed by FKH Architects to be built across the full width of the southern boundary (facing Winchester Road). The north façade of the new office block which faces "Dysart House" has been designed as a face brick "garden-wall" over which creepers will grow over time and which will provide a neutral backdrop to "Dysart House". A light glazed walkway provides the necessary connection between the new development and Dysart House. All of the above proposals where included on the Site Development Plan, which, together with various proposed minor internal modifications to "Dysart House" (to facilitate its use as office accommodation) were duly approved by the NMC at a meeting of the Johannesburg Plans Committee held on the 6th June 1996. In the north western corner of Lot 212 is situated an oak tree of an uncommonly large size, probably the largest or second largest specimen in Johannesburg. It forms an integral part of the context of Dysart House and was therefore included in the area of the proposed declaration. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION The original 1911 core of "Dysart House" was designed using a strong element of symmetry both in the plan layout and in the elevational treatment. In both instance however there was subtle use of asymmetry within the symmetrical framework. The main entrance to Dysart House is centralized within the east elevation and is protected by a small canopy supported on Tuscan columns. The entrance is flanked on either side by simple flat roofed box bay windows. Internally the two most significant rooms are the Drawing Room and the Dining Room, both of which have identically detailed ingle-nooks with low timber seats and timbre paneling up to windowsill height. Each ingle-nook is dominated by the physical handling of the flue which flares smoothly over, and into the room in order to link up with the fire places on the first floor which are offset so as to provide three (formerly bed) rooms over two ground floor rooms. These ingle-nooks demonstrate the quality of detailing that Baker used on what was otherwise a small house designed on a tight budget. The interior spaces of the Drawing Room and Dining Room were further articulated by the projecting bays on the north side, each of which was roofed by the simple device of extending the roof downwards in a continuous slope. Centrally placed between the two bays is an open flat roofed stoep supported on Tuscan columns, which provides a covered outdoor space adjacent to and with direct access from the Drawing Room and Dining Room. A newel posted stair case rises from within the Entrance Hall up to the three Bedrooms and Playroom and first floor level. All of the rooms on first floor level are accommodated within the triangular envelope formed by the steeply pitched roof. Various dormer windows provide light and ventilation on the north and south elevations at first floor levels – the windows on the east and west elevation are, however, set flush with the external plastered wall surfaces. This was made possible by Bakers use of a steeply pitched saddle roof with short hip ends. No other similar house by Baker is known, and as such, it is an important example of one of the different plan types his practice used for their residential work. Externally the house is dominated on the north façade by the steeply pitched Broseley tiled roof and two tall red brick chimneys. Three flat roofed dormer windows project through the roof plane providing north light to the three bedrooms at first floor level. Externally the walls are treated with a rough-cast plaster and have a hammer-dressed koppie stone plinth. The 1918 addition on the West side was carried out in keeping with the original scale, proportions, materials and architectural language of Dysart House. It was significantly recessed on the north elevation and thereby avoided dominating the original house. The extension linked into the existing circulation of the house and provided additional bedroom accommodation and covered north-facing balconies at ground and first floor. The original relationship of “Dysart House” to Sherborne Road has been maintained over the years and the exceptionally large oak tree in the front garden contributes to this residential character. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Dysart House is an excellent example of a small Arts and Crafts style suburban villa designed in 1911 by BAKER and FLEMING, one of South Africa's most influential architectural practices. The house demonstrates the quality of internal spaces and elevational treatment that Baker (and his associates) could achieve on a restricted budget. Using a limited palette of materials, including Broseley roof tiles, red face bricks, painted timber window and door frames set flush with the external rough cast plaster and a hammer dressed koppie stone plinth, Baker achieved a unified and consistent whole. Dysart House is an unusual variation on, and smaller version of, the larger house Baker had already designed in Park Town. It also forms an important part of the historical and architectural context of the nearby Baker designed St. Georges Church on the north side of Sherborne Road. REFERENCES: The Braamfontein Company; Minutes of a Meeting of the Directors. 22 November 1910, unpublished, Barlow Rand Archives. The Braamfontein Company. Minutes of a Meeting of the Director, 11 April 1911, unpublished, Barlow Rand Archives. Donaldson's and Braby's Transvaal & Rhodesia Directory. 1913, 1914, 1916. Donaldson's and Hill's Transvaal & Rhodesia Directory. 1903. Johannesburg City Council, Valuation Cards for Lot 212, Parktown, 1912 to 1996, unpublished. Donaldson, Ken South African Who's Who, 1927/28. Cape Town, 1927. Donaldson, Ken. South African Who's Who, 1931/3. Cape Town, 1931. Longlands Transvaal Directory, 1906. Rand Daily Mail. Death Notice C. W. Dix, 27 July1916, pg 2. Rand Townships Registry; Johannesburg Deeds of Transfer No’s F428/11; F3076/16; F2816/1934; F9842/1948; T9193/1986. Seltzer, L E (ed); The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World; London, 1965. Smith, A.H.; Johannesburg Street Names; Juta, 1971. The South African Who's Who Publishing Company; The South African Who's Who 1908, Durban, 1908. Strange Library of African Studies; H Baker & Fleming Letter Books; No's 21, 22, 23, 24 & 25, August 1910 to January 1912, unpublished. The Star; Death Notice C W Dix, 26 July 1916, pg 2. The Star; Obituary C W Dix, 26 July 1916, pg 8. The United Transvaal Directory, 1911 to 1920. Transvaal Archives Depot; Claims for Compensation – Burghers – Johannesburg CW Dix. Transvaal Archives Depot; Estate of the late Christopher William Dix, 29124, 1916 (includes Death Notice and Last Will & Testament). Transvaal Chamber of Mines, Annual Reports, 1904 to 1917 (containing Reports of the Board of Management of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, Ltd), Johannesburg. COMPILED BY: William MARTINSON of Fassler & Kamstra and Holmes Architects FKH, November 1996 for submission to the (then) National Monuments Council in support of its proposed declaration as a national monument. ______________________ Transcription of Blue Plaque:
JOHANNESBURG HISTORICAL LEGACY |