Alphen - Constantia
Built: c.1753 : c.1780s (renovations) : 1792 (mill)
What began as an 11-acre loan farm in the late 1600s eventually evolved into the prestigious estate it is today. Once a portion of the original Groot Constantia, the property was transformed over centuries from a simple farm into a sophisticated botanical landmark.
The name “Alphen” (along with the larger Constantia estate) is conjectured to derive from VOC ships - the Alphen and Constantia - that once anchored in Table Bay.
The Cloete family held ownership for 150 years, adding various structures like the mill and slave quarters that still stand as part of the modern hotel and commercial complex.
The estate was steered by a lineage of Hendrik Cloetes, each leaving a unique mark - from a wine pioneer to a man who adopted a British lifestyle and changed his name to Henry (Hendrik Cloete). His wife, the Afrikaner Deliana Van Warmelo, famously served as a Boer spy. While Henry hosted high-ranking British officers like Lords Kitchener and Roberts, Deliana would eavesdrop and smuggle intelligence inside hollowed-out dolls and suitcase linings. Legend says a tin of incriminating evidence she buried remains hidden somewhere on the grounds.¹
Marie van Warmelo-Maré, Deliana's mother, stayed at Alphen Estate to recuperate following the Anglo-Boer War. She returned to Pretoria in May 1904.²
The Alphen has long been a hub for the elite, hosting icons such as Mark Twain, Cecil John Rhodes, and George Bernard Shaw.¹
As a protected archaeological site, the grounds have yielded artifacts such as 18th-century porcelain and relics likely left behind during the 1795 Battle of Muizenberg. The property is also home to the Cape Peninsula's oldest functional mill and is naturally bounded by the Diep River.¹
Land ownership & architecture
The 11 acre freehold farm had first been granted in 1714 to Theunis van Schalkwyk, adjoining land by Governor Tulbagh to one Abraham Leever. Leever probably built the house.⁵ The farm was originally part of the Groot Constantia estate, and was apportioned off after the death of Simon van der Stel (1639-1712).
- Abraham Leever (bef. 1693 Amsterdam - 1772 Stellenbosch) was an official (hoë amptenaar) in the V.O.C.
The house, a rare example of a double-storeyed country house in the Cape, was built in about 1753 and added to shortly afterwards by a Captain de Waal, who had been in the service of the Dutch East India Company.⁴ De Waal also placed two small portrait busts of himself and his wife at the top of the flight of steps. He is thought to have designed the steps, and to have laid out the garden with mathematical precision.⁵
This de Waal was related to the old Dutch family of Overbeek. In 1765 Alphen was bought by Jan Serrurier, and a few years later by Johan Kirsten. From Kirsten 's possession Alphen passed to Thomas Frederik Dreyer, who retained it until 1850.⁷
The building is square in plan with large, lofty rooms and is two storeys in height. Tradition tells us that it was covered with a thatch roof and gabled above the second storey. If so, it must have been of quite an unusual type. To-day (1933) the house is covered by a low-pitch corrugated iron roof.⁴
Of particular interest is the entrance door with its sliding sash, behind the fanlight, which could be lowered when required to form a window. The door is divided horizontally into two halves, of which the upper half can be opened back whilst the lower half supports the sliding sash. The doorway is framed in with panelled pilasters and an entablature, the pilasters being enriched with carved teak rococo ornament. A carved beam preserved from the old mill at Alphen bears the following inscription in fine lettering: "JOHAN BALTHASAR BRUENING UIT HESSEN DARMSTADT AMPT GRIMBERG VAN DE COLBE MOLE GEBOORTIG HEEFT DEZE MOOLE GETIMMERT ANNO 1792."⁴ (Translation: Johan Balthasar Bruening, from Hessen Darmstadt, district of Grimberg, born at the Colbe mill, built this mill in the year 1792.)
Of the outbuildings, the slave quarters is the oldest, and the mill the latest. It was declared a National Monument in 1973.
Later additions
In c.1989 the Cloete family employed architect Dirk Visser to design an electrical substation disguised as an old Cape Dutch dovecote. In 1990 he also altered the 1700s Dower House.
"The builders had nearly completed their work (on the dovecote) when the then National Monuments Council sent representatives to inspect it. They commented that the design was not ‘honest’ and that we were fooling the public in making it look like a historic building."⁶
- History and Philosophy of the Alphen.
- Schutte, G.J. (2023) Dear Cornelis! Letters from Johanna van Warmelo and Mrs. Marie M.E. van Warmelo-Maré to Mr. Cornelis Beelaerts van Blokland. Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe, Jaargang 63 No. 4: Desember 2023.
- Fransen, H. (1982) Three Centuries of South African Art.
- Pearse, G.E. (1933) Eighteenth Century Architecture In South Africa.
- Trotter, A.F. (1903) Old Cape Colony.
- Cloete-Hopkins, N. (2003) The Dovecote and Dower House at Alphen. Vassa Journal No. 9.
- Fairbridge, D. (1922) Historic Houses of South Africa.
Comments
Post a Comment