Dutch Settlers and their Architecture in South Africa

Dutch settlers were the first of the European trading powers to set up permanent settlements in South Africa. In 1652 the powerful Dutch East India Company built a fort and established a supply station under the command of Jan Van Riebeeck on a site that later became Cape Town.

The Stellenbosch wine area is situated in the fertile valleys lying below the Drakensberg mountain range. This Western Cape area is just 31 miles from Cape Town, it is where many Dutch Settlers moved, cleared the land, and established farms. Vineyards began being planted when French Huguenots fleeing persecution in France during 1687 to parts of Europe were invited to South Africa by Dutch Settlers in 1688. They brought with them the skills of wine making from France which they shared with their Dutch hosts. 

An avenue of Eucalyptus saligna at a vineyard visited 
The arrival of Huguenots in Britain is of personal interest to me because it is understood in our family that my maternal grandmother was descended from them - her surname was Jacques. 

For much of the 20th century the South African wine industry received minimal international attention. Its isolation was exacerbated by the boycotts of South African products in protest against the country's system of Apartheid. It was not until the late 1980s and 1990s when Apartheid was ended, and the world's export market opened up, that South African wines began to experience a renaissance. 
It is in the heart of these winelands that the development of Cape Dutch architecture can be seen

The 'Wolf's nose' gables were the first front gables to be designed. They were built as a functional 'eyebrow' over a dormer window providing light for the loft above the front door. From this humble gable, based on the medieval architecture of the Netherlands, the style of Cape Dutch gables grew into one of the most recognisable 'settler' architectures in the world. 

By the mid-1750s, the gables at the Cape had reached their full height, a reflection of the prosperity at the time. From then on, gables would be defined by whether the edge was concave or convex in shape.

The Holbol Gable was a natural progression from the earlier bolbol gable as the fashion of the day moved towards the baroque. Its defining feature was a mix of convex and concave edges. 

The Neoclassical Gable was the last of the Cape Dutch gable styles before the Second British Occupation of the Cape in 1806. The style could be defined as singularly elegant, restrained and dignified. The pediment could be triangular, rounded or even sculpted.