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House White
Parkview, Johannesburg, Gauteng
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| Introduction Erf 28 Parkview was purchased from the Transvaal Consolidated Land & Exploration Company (TCL & EC) in 1920 by Arthur WHITE, a building contractor who traded as 'A.J. White Builders & Contractors' of 48 City House, at the corner of Main and Harrison Streets in Johannesburg. White was presumably also a developer who speculated in the construction of houses for the residential market. Condition Seven of the Title Deed for Erf 28 stated that: 'The buildings shall be of an artistic design and the plans and specifications thereof signed by the Architect who must be chosen from the Company's list of Architects...' Another special condition of the Title Deed noted that 'The house to be erected on the property shall be of no less than five rooms of reasonable size and kitchen, panty and bathroom, with attractive appearance to the satisfaction of the Company.' White duly appointed the architects ABURROW & TREEBY of Consolidated Building, Fox Street, Johannesburg. ABURROW was already 68 years old and TREEBY was 60 – both were clearly in the twilight of their respective careers. In June 1920, White applied to the TCL & EC for Loan in the amount £1 500.0.0 to finance the construction of the house and outbuildings on Erf 28. The loan was granted subject to certain conditions including that the '...erection of the house and outbuilding must be commenced within three months...' and that '...the buildings, including outbuildings... must be roofed with approved tiles'. Architectural Design The original Submission Drawing compiled by ABURROW & TREEBY was numbered 1/2107 and included a Plan, a Section and an Elevation of the house; similar drawings for the (partially) double storey outbuilding and an overall Site Plan. The Submission Drawing was not dated by the architects, but was annotated by the Johannesburg Council with 'Site Passed 15.7.20'. The North façade faced Kinross Road and the street address at that time was 42 Kinross Road. At this date the stand to the South, (Erf 29) was still vacant. The house was designed as single storied, having a basic rectangular plan form with a small incised, rectangular entrance stoep on the south east corner and a narrow linear stoep on the north façade, flanked by two glazed bay windows, to the Lounge and Dining Room respectively. The house was to be roofed with tiles under a simple hipped roof, with an extended roof over the verandah and bay windows. The Dining Room, Lounge and one Bedroom faced north. The Kitchen (and associated Pantry), the Bathroom and two additional Bedrooms faced south. A narrow passage separated the Kitchen from the Dining Room. Five of the principal rooms were to be provided with Fireplaces, as was the Kitchen. The proposed house was designed as a simple, unpretentious building with a low-pitched tiled roof; perhaps best categorized as Late Edwardian Bungalow style. The house sat on a hammer dressed stone plinth, with a coved plaster fillet separating the plinth from the smooth plastered walls above. Some of the building corners were further elaborated with hammer dressed stone quoining. The timber casements were glazed with 'diamond' pattern lead light panes. An interesting feature of these windows was their heavy, robust granolithic external cills. The window frames were mounted flush with the external plaster finish, the junction between the frame and plaster being protected with a rectangular timber cover strip. The roof tiles were standard 'Marseilles' clay tiles, almost certainly of South African origin (rather than imported). The chimneys were simple, plain plastered shafts. The outbuilding comprised of a long linear building with a Loft (accessed by a fixed step ladder) over the Wash House and the two Earth Closets. As was normal practice at the time, both Earth Closets and the two pail traps were screened with freestanding walls. The Wash House was separated from a small Staff Room, by a long open shed. Revision to Original Design Presumably during construction, White decided to increase the accommodation provided in the house by utilising the roof space as a First Floor, and an Amended Plan was submitted for approval. The drawing appears to have been prepared by a draughtsman as no architect's name was reflected. The 'naive' drawing of a combined elevation and perspective of the south west corner of the house would support this suggestion. The drawing was again undated, but was annotated by the Council with 'Site Passed 8.11.20'. The Amended Plan, comprised the First Floor Plan, a detailed Section, the West Elevation of the house, an amended plan and section of the (now) single storey outbuilding, the abovementioned 'naive' perspective and a Site Plan. A narrow staircase was inserted into one of the Bedrooms, which gave access to the First Floor Lounge and two Bedrooms, accommodated within the roof space. The external wall surface of the West façade was corbelled out and continued up to a form a hipped end with a window to the Lounge. The two Bedrooms were lit with awkward dormer windows. The First Floor thereby created was fairly unresolved in terms of its plan and the rooms were badly proportioned. The plan of the outbuilding was amended to omit the Loft, shorten the open shed and include a Garage, with the two Earth Closets moved to the South Side of the building. Practical Completion White confirmed to the TCL & EC that the house was practically complete and that he had taken occupation on 30th November 1920. He also requested permission to construct a temporary shed for storage while he was constructing a Tennis Court. The TCL & EC were willing to allow the erection of the temporary shed provided it was removed within three months and that it was erected '...so as not to be an eyesore to adjoining neighbours'. It is likely that the fine stone boundary wall (on the northern boundary along Kinross Rd) and the free standing, stone columned pergola running parallel to, and for the full length of, the Tennis Court were both constructed shortly after the house was completed. In March of 1921 the TCL & EC requested White to remove the shed and to '...discontinue grazing your animals upon the Company's Estate.' White was however granted an extension of one month, but in August, four months later, the TCL & EC's Plantation Office reported that White was still grazing '...10 oxen, 7 mules and 1 horse on the Co's property...and a stable has been erected with galvanized iron in a most untidy manner on Lot 28, for the mules and horses. Behind the o/blds a large quantity of old building material is stacked which resembles a corner of Paddy's Market in Harrison Street'. The matter was presumably resolved as no further correspondence was entered into. Alterations Over Time By 1934 the existing outbuildings had been modified with the sub-division of the open shed to create a narrow laundry. The balance of the open shed was to be further subdivided to create an additional staff room. The drawing was signed by the then owner, A H Batchelor, and dated 19 March 1934. A draughtsman presumably prepared the drawing, as no originator's name was reflected. As was common with most of the Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg the Night Soil system was only phased out in the 1930's, with the introduction of waterborne sewerage systems. A. H. Batchelor again signed an undated submission drawing for 'Drainage on Stand 28', which was approved by the Council on 29 August 1935. The Municipal Sewer connection was made into the main line sewer laid in Lower Park Drive. This change enabled a WC to be installed inside the house for the first time. The drawing was again presumably prepared by a draughtsman, as no originator's name was reflected. A subsequent owner, C W Sharp employed the architect Jan A HOFMAN of Permanent Buildings in Pretoria to prepare a submission drawing for the proposed modification of an existing bedroom at First floor and the insertion of a small bathroom adjacent to it. The drawing was dated 23 January 1956. An application for approval of the alterations and additions was submitted to the TCL & EC on 8 March 1956. These alterations were valued at £400.0.0. The submission was formally approved the following day. The architect A A GLASSMAN prepared a submission drawing dated October 1958 on behalf of Ben-Ber Pools for C W Sharp Esq., describing a new 18 000 gallon (68 000 litres) Swimming Pool, the concrete floor slab and brick cavity walls filled with concrete and the usual slasto surround. The Plan was endorsed with the note that water from the Pool would not be discharged into the Sewerage System or onto the streets, but would be used to irrigate the garden. The firm of HOFMAN & HOFMAN Architects prepared a submission drawing, dated 10 July 1960, for a new glazed steel external double door from a Bedroom on Ground floor as well as a new staff Room, with double pitched roof, attached to the existing outbuilding. The existing outbuilding was again extended in 1965 to create an additional storeroom and to enlarge the Garage. The drawings was signed by the then owner W P van der Merwe and dated 3 September 1965. A draughtsman presumably prepared the drawings, as no originator's name was reflected. The drawing was endorsed with a handwritten note stating that the outbuilding would not be used for business purposes. The architectural designer W. J. Pernegger, of Kallenbach Drive in Linksfield, prepared a submission drawing for Advocate W P van der Merwe, describing an extensive addition to the South East corner of the house. This addition provided two independent en-suite Dressing Rooms, a covered Porch and a large Bathroom. An application was submitted to the TCL & EC on 16 September 1969 for the alterations and additions, which were valued at £5 000.0.0. A substantial carport structure was built between the house and the outbuilding circa 1980. It is suggested that at this stage the front stoep was also modified and extended with the construction of a set of plastered columns. The varied collection of garages and staff rooms was probably also amalgamated at this stage to form a self contained flat for rental purposes. The site was rezoned in 1995 to permit a greater density in a new development. By June 2004, the house and outbuildings had been subject to a variety of unsympathetic recent modifications. All structures on the site were generally in need of maintenance. Internally the only original items from the original house still intact were:
Seven Houses Project In 2003 seven joint owners purchased Erf 28, in extent 4 613 square metres, with the intention of developing seven adjoining houses on the property - the 7 Houses Project. The project entailed the construction of seven new houses in a tightly controlled modernist idiom. A detailed application was duly submitted to the Provincial Heritage Resources Authority: Gauteng in 2004, requesting permission to demolish the house and outbuilding. A demolition permit was subsequently granted and the re-development of the site proceeded. Adapted and extended from: MARTINSON, W A, 2004. Report in Support of an Application to the Provincial Heritage Resources Authority - Gauteng for the Demolition of the House and Outbuildings situated on Erf 28 Parkview. Unpublished. OSMOND LANGE ARCHITECTS, Johannesburg: pp 24 All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon. |
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