Hawthorndon House

Hawthornden House is a double-storeyed house on Herschel Walk in the suburb of Wynberg in Cape Town, South Africa. The house likely dates from 1683, but was substantially rebuilt in the French Victorian style in 1881 by a Capt. John Spence.

Hawthornden House
Hawthornden House from its garden
General information
Address	Herschell Walk
Town or city	Wynberg, Cape Town
Country	South Africa
Current tenants	Labia Family
Year(s) built	1683
Client	John Spence
Owner	Western Cape Government

It was bought by the Randlord Sir J.B. Robinson in 1891 and was where he lived until his death in 1927. Count Natale Labia, grandson of J.B. Robinson, donated Hawthornden to what is now the Government of the Western Cape Province in 1978, but will continue to live there during his lifetime.^[1]

The site was declared as a national monument in 1983 and became a provincial heritage site in 2000 when the legislation changed.^[2] In 2014 the area protected was extended to include the entire remaining gardens.

Hawthornden is one of the major surviving examples of high style Victorian domestic architecture in Cape Town. It is a private dwelling and is not open to the public.

See also

• List of heritage sites in South Africa
• Heritage Western Cape

References

1. Provincial Notice 318/2014, Province of the Western Cape Provincial Gazette Extraordinary, No. 77336, Cape Town: 28 November 2014
2. Section 58(11)(a), National Heritage Resources Act, Act 25 of 1999, Government Notice 506, Republic of South Africa Government Gazette, Vol. 406, No 19974, Cape Town, 28 April 1999