Avril Reid

A short distance from the modern Fourways CBD lies a highly significant gem from another era... an old house that once belonged to the Van der Walt brothers who farmed watermelons in the area. Further research is needed to establish the exact age of the property but it appears as though it dates from the late 19th century which would very likely make it the oldest house in Fourways. In 1935, Ernst and Ethel Eriksen of Norscot Manor fame visited the farm and decided it was the perfect setting for their new home. Below are a few excerpts about the 'Van der Walt Cottage' taken from research on the area conducted by Avril Reid in the late 1990s. Recent photos were taken by The Heritage Portal team. Thank you to the current owner Jim Morris and his partner Henrietta for showing us around.

It was in 1935 when the Eriksen's had first seen the land to the north of Johannesburg, and Ethel Eriksen decided there and then that “this is where I want to build my home“. She had been captivated by the glorious open view to the north, with the land sloping away towards the Magaliesburg Mountains, and by the superb sunset.

The very next day Ernst Eriksen set out to find out more about the land, and it was then that he met the van der Walt brothers. The land was part of the original farm of Witkoppen which had been proclaimed as long ago as 1856 and granted to Van Vuuren. By the 1900s much of the original farm land had been in...

In the early 1990s the Sandton Historical Association, with expert guidance from Professional Land Surveyor Werner Kirchhoff hoped to erect a Beacon monument to mark the boundary line between two of Sandton's original farms. Although the initiative did not get past the planning stage, the vision for the project was documented in an excellent article written by Avril Reid and Kirchhoff. Below are a few extracts from the article (SHA's 1993 annual magazine) revealing some fascinating history about beacons and boundaries.

A beacon, or boundary corner mark, marking the division between two of Sandton’s old farms was recently relocated at the South-Western corner of Sandown at the junction of West Street, Linden Road and Wierda Road East. It is at a point where traffic improvements will make a new island and it is proposed to mark this historic point with a concrete pyramid replacing the original stone cairn.

Proposed Sandton Beacon

This interesting landmark has been relocated by Werner Kirchhoff, Professional Land Surveyor, who was instructed by Nedcor to resurvey the boundaries of Erf 535 Sandown Extension 44 where they are extending their Technical Information Centre.

During the early years of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Transvaal), land ownership was extremely important - abundant land was a principal reason for the Great Trek. The Sandton beacon identified above...

A few years ago Mushroom Farm Park in Sandton Central was used by the Bombela Consortium to access the Gautrain Tunnel during construction. As soon as the work was completed the company rehabilitated the green space and today it is a phenomenal resource for the Sandton community as well as many local and international visitors. Many people have asked about the name and want to know if there was ever a mushroom farm in Sandton Central. The following article, compiled by Avril Reid and first published in the Sandton Historical Association's 1994 journal, sheds some light on the matter (edited by The Heritage Portal).

The ‘Mushroom Farm’ is a tranquil and green public park near Sandton City with a pond and a small stream flowing though it. Surrounded by high rise office buildings, flats and town houses, this park is an oasis in the busy hub of the business world.

Mushroom Farm Park (The Heritage Portal)

Metropolis On Park, a new luxury residential apartment block, rises above Mushroom Park (The Heritage Portal)

But why the strange name “Mushroom Farm”? The reason is simple - because that’s just what it used to be. Where the park is today...

Norscot Manor lies to the north of Sandton, west of the William Nicol Drive and just north of the N1 Motorway. The home of the Eriksen family until 1982, Norscot now belongs to Sandton who have developed it as a community centre to serve their northern suburbs, and have already made one wing into a Public Library. Norscot was built in 1936 on a scale few could afford today and was ideally suited to lavish entertaining as well as being the quiet secluded home the Eriksen's wanted. As for its name, NORSCOT, we know that the "nor‟ was for Norway and "scot‟ was for Scotland and that Mr and Mrs Ernst Eriksen lived there with their two children [The family's phenomenal wealth came largely from its success in the motor industry].

The first house the Eriksens lived in in Johannesburg had been the stables of what is now the Hope Home in Westcliff. It was a stone house, designed by Sir Herbert Baker, which they rented from the well-known South African authoress Sarah Gertrude Milne. While there, they looked around for somewhere to build a permanent home. And it was while driving out to the north towards the mountains that they came across the water-melon farm belonging to Chris van der Walt and his brother near what is today the Sandton suburb of Fourways. Thus it was that plans evolved for the building of the second Norscot (their house in Kloof, Natal, had also had that name).

[[{"fid":"661","view_mode":"media_adaptive","fields":{"format":"media_adaptive","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Norscot...

Below are a few edited excerpts from an article on the early history of Tara compiled by Avril Read from the Sandton Historical Association. They appeared in the Association's 1987 journal.

Tara was a large and opulent house built in the style of the 1930s, great attention being paid to the quality of materials and soundness of structure. It was approached through the majestic gates on the south side down a drive which ended in a circle under the decorated portico. There were several garages - unusual for the 30's - and the Tilletts kept two large cars, a brown Lincoln and a dark blue Dodge, both 7-seaters, with pull-out seats behind the driver. There was a European chauffeur who drove them everywhere.

 The driveway and main entrance to the house (The Heritage Portal)

Moving Towards the Gardens (The Heritage Portal)

The magnificent entrance hall is fully pannelled in teak and the formal staircase, also pannelled, had stairs with shallow risers, - a concession to Mr. Tillett's cardiac condition. Apparently he always paid great attention to his health, and a lift was installed to the first floor for his benefit. This has now been removed, and the space used...