Fire is the most destructive and frightening of all elements. A Johannesburg heritage home in Parktown, Le Tholonet, at 6 3rd Avenue, was lost to fire on 17th July 2018. On Wednesday this week Clive Chipkin and I embarked on an expedition to discover and if possible photograph Parktown and Saxonwold homes of a certain period. We were in search of the Cape Dutch architectural style and its variants in the old elite northern suburbs of Johannesburg.
In the case of Le Tholonet (definitely in Cape Dutch style) we particularly wished to pin down and discuss the glorious central gable of the heritage home with its first floor lovers balcony, bedrooms at first floor level tucked under thatched eaves and the distinctive chimneys. Imagine our surprise and dismay to discover that the house has been lost to fire. The gates were ajar and it took us a moment or two to realize that all was not right. Only a shell of isolated walls remains. We were confronted by a scene of blackened destruction: burnt remains, blackened walls and collapsed floorboards. The security man on duty (once we had introduced ourselves and presented our credentials) told us that a massive fire had destroyed almost all of this beautiful home. His account was that there had been an electrical fault and with a thatch roof there was little hope of saving the home. On Wednesday, workmen were everywhere removing the debris, the charred remains and fractured black timbers. Twisted metal lay everywhere. Heaps of scrap, burnt out timber, iron, remains of ceiling boards and wooden library shelves piled up on the front lawn.
The home has a listing on the...
