Historic mansion goes on sale for R11.5m
IN 1903, there were no roads for transporting building materials, and ox-wagons would travel along rough tracks through dense bush in Inanda, Sandton, to the remote site where Wilfred Wybergh was building a hunting lodge.
Wybergh was a mining engineer at the time. Today, the same house, which was built 113 years ago, is on the market for R11.5 million.
Wybergh built the lodge in what was then deep, unspoilt veld north of the fledgling mining town of Joburg. It was intended to be a weekend and holiday retreat for the wealthy mining randlords.
Today, its original structure has remained almost intact except for modern comforts. The valuable property has withstood being subdivided and is still on a big stand opposite the Inanda Club’s polo fields.
According to state agent Joan Mendelsohn, who has studied the history of the property, the house has early 17th century features such as the rounded gables typical of the Cape Dutch architecture of that era. The garden has many of the original jacarandas, some English elms and oak trees, which were popular at the time.
“Pride of place are the massive bougainvilleas, still thriving a century later,” she said.
Mendelsohn said it was in 1902 that Wybergh asked Sir Herbert Baker to design the house. Wybergh was educated at Winchester College, Hampshire, and at the Mining Academy in Freiberg, Sachsen, Germany.
He left England for southern Africa in 1891 and went on an expedition to Mashonaland – in present-day Zimbabwe – for mining projects. In 1895, he joined Consolidated Goldfields Southern Africa.
In 1898, he visited the UK as president of the South African League, to present South African mining views to the British government. During the AngloBoer War (1898-1902), he served in the intelligence department for the British forces.
In 1903, he was the commissioner of mines for Joburg and in 1907 was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Transvaal Colony.
Wybergh’s idea, said Mendelsohn, was to have a place out of town where the randlords and other influential residents living on the Parktown Ridge could relax. It is also widely assumed there must have been much burning of the midnight oil discussing the goldfields and the aftermath of the war.
To save time and costs, Wybergh built a large kiln on the property that produced the 160 000 bricks needed to build the house and stables. The total cost was a hefty £4 116 at the time, and construction took a year to complete.
In true Baker style, the barrel-vaulted ceilings allow natural light to flood into the living areas and also play a role in regulating the room temperature in summer and winter, said Mendelsohn.
“Sir Herbert Baker was always adamant about using natural materials and training craftsmen on the site. He would’ve been pleased to know that this house has been painstakingly and lovingly cared for,” she added.
The owner, Luke Shearer, who has lived in the house with his children for 11 years – said he was attracted to the house partly because of its history, but also because of its warmth and the size of the rooms.
“We wanted to live in the heart of suburbia for convenience, but also be part of a green belt.
“On hot nights we often sleep out in the quadrangle under the night sky, giving a sense of being in the bush.”
Additional information from C Plug for S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science.
It was designed by legendary British architect Sir Herbert Baker