House Steynberg - Pretoria North

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Architect: Unidentified

Date: ? : 1940 : 1942

Status: Extant

Location: 465 Berg Avenue, Pretoria North

Coert and his wife in front of their home in Pretoria. (c.1953)

Former home of well-known sculptor, Coert Steynberg.

"Coert Steynberg is 'n boereseun, afkomstig uit die vrugbare turfwêreld van Bethal in Oos-Transvaal... Van die tyd af (his marriage) het Coert Steynberg, aangemoedig deur sy in kunswerk-belangstellende huis 'n grasdak hê. Dit pas immers nie alleen aan by die omgewing aan die hang van Magaliesberg nie, maar ook by sy aard as Boereseun."¹

The main residence, originally a rectangular double-volume studio, was transformed into a family home in 1940 following the addition of a single rondavel. This new wing introduced a lounge and kitchen, featuring custom-made couches and bookshelves specifically adapted to fit the building's circular walls, while the gap between the structures was repurposed into a foyer and scullery. The house was built primarily from second-grade Kirkness bricks with a face brick hearth, featuring spider-web roof trusses and air vents hand-moulded by Steynberg.

In 1942, Steynberg built "Isakaya," a garden rondavel specifically for his daughter, Isa. This playroom was scaled down to the proportions of an eight-year-old and featured a thatched roof and a sculpted door. It was built using "koppieklip" sandstone harvested from the local Magaliesberg slopes, bound by a red mortar made from the site's own clay and sand. To ensure the building remained accessible despite its reduced scale, a leg-of-mutton gable was integrated above the entrance to provide sufficient height for the doorway.²

Floor plan after and before rondawel addition. Drawing: H. Raath.²

Museum

The house became a museum in 1988⁴, but was closed to the public in 1996. Part of the roof was removed.

In 2008 thieves targeting copper and bronze broke into the home and studio. Ironically, the burglars likely didn’t realise the historical significance of the site. Makgolo Makgolo, CEO of the Northern Flagship Institution, noted that the museum had been inactive for some time and was vulnerable due to a broken internal security system. Inside the house, they stripped taps and window handles, but also managed to haul away two large bronze sculptures from the garden. Makgolo noted that many of Steynberg’s most significant works are safely housed at the National Cultural History Museum.³

Location

Sources
  1. Dreyer, J. (1953) 'n Besoek aan die ateljee van 'n Beeldhouer. Die Hervormer, July 1953.
  2. Naude, M. (2007) A legacy of rondavels and rondavel houses in the northern interior of South Africa. SAJAH, ISSN 0258-3542, volume 22, number 2, 2007: 216-237.
  3. Otto, H. (2008) Second Tshwane art museum hit by burglars. IOL.
  4. Pretoriana No. 104, 1994.

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