It took a house plan to get Marc Latilla hooked on history.
The pony-tailed author, DJ and music professional recently launched his book, Johannesburg Then and Now. It’s a treasure for Joburg enthusiasts: a leisurely stroll down what the early gold prospectors built on a stretch of veld over 130 years ago, juxtaposed against what those buildings and sites look like now. The Then and Now books are a worldwide series, profiling cities like Melbourne, Rome, Charleston, and Cape Town.
Book Cover
Latilla bought a 1912 house in Melville 17 years ago, and wanting to make renovations, located the plans. But studying them triggered memories of old buildings he’d lived in - he was born in Bertrams, one of Joburg’s oldest suburbs.
“I realised that I have lived in heritage buildings. I always loved old properties. It all came together when I saw the plans of my Melville house,” he says.
Curious to find an old photo of his house, he studied “random books on old Joburg”, and checked at Museum Africa under Melville. He did not find any but in the process discovered that “many old houses and buildings were gone forever but at the same time, I saw that many were still around. I wanted to find as many as I could and show...
