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Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon | Dal Josaphat, Western Cape |
District Paarl The name is of biblical origin, from Joel (Jehoshaphat). Also spelled Dal Josafat and Daljosaphat [Richardson Deidré, 2001. Historic Sites of South Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. p, 105.] Dal Josafat has an interesting and varied selection of buildings dating from the 18th century. This beautiful area along the road from Paarl to Wellington was settled for the most part by Huguenots. The original farm of Dal Josafat now named Roggeland, is the oldest in the area. The farmlands were granted to Peter Buck of Lübeck in 1692, but it was Andries Bernardus du Toit who, in 1780, built the recently restored H-shaped gabled house. Schoongezicht stands on land of an early grant to Abraham Vivier, but also became the property of the Du Toit family in 1723, remaining so well into the 19th century. The large H-plan homestead, having been built by Stephanus du Toit within the same decade, has certain features, such as the interior screen, that are similar to Roggeland. Another Du Toit homestead is Kleinbosch, built in 1792 by Guillaume du Toit, on land granted to his grandfather, Francois, one hundred years before. The holbol gable has delicate mouldings and an unusual feature of the house is the extension of the central bar of the H-plan so as to include stabling within the main structure, separated from the other outbuildings of the werf, which are also very interesting. Kleinbosch has close connections with the Afrikaans language and its origins. It was the birthplace of Stephanus Jacobus du Toit who later, when he became a minister of religion and a journalist, founded and led the Afrikaans Language Movement, 'Die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners'. Stephanus' elder brother, Daniel Francois, later became editor of the Movement's journal, Die Afrikaanse Patriot. Another member of the group to be connected with Kleinbosch was Petrus Jacobus Malherbe, who bought the property in 1880. A year later his son Daniel Francois was born there, and grew up to be a prominent writer and leader in Afrikaans cultural matters. The farm school where several of these eminent men were educated is situated at Kleinbosch, as is the Huguenot cemetery. Languedoc has an early holbol gable dated 1757 and bears the initials of its builder, Thomas Arnoldus Theron, who inherited the farmlands from his mother seven years later. A simple T-shaped house, its rustic charm contrasts sharply with the frilly Victorian verandah. Elegantly sophisticated is Valencia, originally named Naaubepaald. It was built in 1818 as a single-storeyed T-plan thatched dwelling, on land deducted from Kleinbosch by Ernst du Toit for his eldest son Daniel Francois. Soon afterwards the roof was burnt and the second storey added with a straight parapet, giving the facade a Cape Georgian appearance, unusual in this vicinity. One of the finest homesteads in Dal Josafat is Non Pareille. Although small, it has all the ingredients that go to the making of a good Cape Dutch house. It was built on land settled in 1690 by Pierre Vivier, brother of the Viviers of Schoongezicht and Goede Rust. From 1802, until well into the 20th century, the farm belonged to the Hugo family. The H-plan house has neo-classical gables dated at 1826. Especially beautiful is the interior woodwork, which includes doors, ceilings, floors, screen and wall cupboards, variously of yellowwood, stinkwood and teak, the differing woods blending and contrasting. Two other gabled homesteads in the vicinity that are notable, though somewhat altered, are Bergskadus, presently known as Mountain Shadows Hotel, and the Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery's magnificent showpiece, Nederburg. The latter was built in 1800 by Philippus Bernardus Wolfaart, the son of a stablehand, and named after the Commissioner-General of the Dutch East India Company, Sebastiaan Cornelis Nederburgh. [Picton-Seymour Désirée, 1989. Historical Buildings in South Africa. Cape Town: Struikhof Publishers. p, 52.] List of references:
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