A lot has changed since Oscar Norwich compiled this piece about the famous Norman House in Doornfontein in the 1980s. Norman House was a grand mansion frequented by the who’s who of early Johannesburg. We are not sure when it was demolished. If anyone has any information please add it to the comments section below.
This mansion is situated near to the Irene Church with its front entrance on End Street in close proximity to the attractive Doornfontein Park. The mansion has an interesting historical provenance. It has always been associated with the Dale Laces of early fashionable Doornfontein and thereafter as the well-known Norman Nursing Home. It was originally built by JCI for Barney Barnato. Research has revealed that JCI in the book ‘The Storey of Johnnies”, published in 1965 by its staff, quotes on pg 23 - Barney Barnato’s residence as ‘Where his home in End Street which today is the Norman Nursing Home became the venue for the celebrated breakfast parties at which many of his financial deals were arranged”. In spite of further research it has so far been difficult to ascertain when it was built or who was the architect. It has been suggested by the African Library that in February 1980 a newspaper report by Barbara Scriben stated that the archival material records of Doornfontein were destroyed in 1893.
End Street Park (The Heritage Portal)
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