Johannesburg - One of Johannesburg’s oldest houses - believed to be the oldest stone house in the city - is up for sale.
Built in 1860, this historic house is called Hy Many House, an Irish Gaelic name which means “the home of the Kellys”.
It is in Randpark Ridge, but originally formed part of a farm called Boskop.
According to the Heritage Portal, it has 330mm-thick rock walls and is well maintained as the levies from the complex houses among which it stands pays for its maintenance.
The heritage association says that originally a Randlord by the name of John Dale Lace bought the home which was positioned on a portion of the farm in 1903.
The farm consisted of 1 300 acres and Lace used it as a game farm, but also grew vegetables to supply to the mines in the area.
During his ownership, he extended the house and added two A-framed Victorian-style gables.
These gables were later changed to Cape Dutch gables when Tom Kelly purchased the property in 1929. He re-named it “Hy Many”.
In 1951, part of the estate was transferred to his daughter, a Mrs Gemmill, who later sold it in 1982 to The Gencor Trust.
It was at this stage that Randpark Ridge extension 41 was established by a developer.
The house was restored in 2005 and pine doors and laminated floors were reinstated.
The original fireplaces, which had been bricked up over the years, are now open. The bathrooms were upgraded to give them a Victorian-style feel.
The current owners are Ian and Kate Rodney who purchased the house in 2014.
Says Ian: “Hy Many was on the market at the time and we absolutely fell in love with its history, character and charm. We purchased the house from the Anderson family whom, I believe, had owned it from around 2009,” he said.
He said there was very little history of the house on record, but he had been told that the house had historically been listed as a heritage site.
However, this listing was later removed after the farm and the surrounding land fell into disrepair.
“With the house and land sitting vacant, the home was soon inhabited by vagrants and fell victim to a pretty large house fire which damaged the front of the house.
“Apparently the original house was a lot larger, boasting as many as 20 rooms. What exists now is essentially the back of the house which would have been the entrance with the jacaranda trees forming the driveway,” he said.
The property itself was later sold for development and the house was scheduled for demolition between 1980 and 1990.
“One of the historical associations and local activists got an interdict to prevent the demolition of the house and were successful in protecting the house and the jacarandas, which are also recognised as some of the oldest trees in Johannesburg,” he said.
As a result, the land was developed around the house which is why it now sits as a stand-alone property within a complex.
Ian says that in August 2014, James Bell from the Heritage Portal reached out to say that he wanted to relist the house as a Blue Plaque Heritage Site based on the house being protected and restored and the fact that much of the building which was attached to its heritage, including the masonry work, fireplaces, stoep and gables, were all intact.
The blue plaque was later placed on the wall of the complex.
“Following later research at the National Library in Joburg, we discovered a National Gazette from 1994 recognising the house as a national monument. We absolutely loved living in the house and feel proud to have been a small part of the home’s amazing history. We unfortunately only lived in the house for little over a year at which time I took up an opportunity to work in New Zealand. In that time, we did our best to put a lot of love into the property,” he said.
Estate agent Janine Long from Barclay Stephenson Estates, which is selling the house, says it is on the market for R2.9 million.
@annacox
THE STAR