De Rust - Heidelberg (Gauteng)
Date: 1906 Original owner: Frederik Jacobus Bezuidenhout Architect: Mattheus Carel August Meischke Builder: Johannes Stephanus Joubert (1870-1949). Also involved in construction of the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Locality: Farm Boschfontein (6 morgen). R42, west of Heidelberg The 792m² historic mansion known as De Rust (sometimes referred to as the Bezuidenhout mansion or De Rust Homestead). It is an impressive Edwardian-era mansion with 14 rooms (including 4 bedrooms, a men's smoking room, a ladies' lounge, and a spacious entrance hall). It was built as a substantial country residence for the wealthy Bezuidenhout family. The house reflects the prosperity of early 20th-century Transvaal farming families and the architectural tastes of the period. While many old farmsteads in the region are simpler, De Rust was designed to be more elaborate and stately. Materials and fittings were imported. It has Oregon Pine floors and pressed steel ceilings. The mosaic ...