On the farm Leeuwpoort near Heilbron in the Northern Freestate are two residential houses built for the Weilbach family, both Provincial Heritage sites.
The older of the two is a typical farm house of its time. It is difficult to establish exactly when it was constructed and by whom. There is one piece of information stating that it was built by Engelbrecht, the occupier of the farm before Pistorius and Weilbach. That would put the date into the 1860s. In another source, the year 1850 is mentioned. In yet another, it is reported that the farm house was built by Carl August Pistorius for his daughter, Catharina Johanna, and son in law, JF Weilbach, when they got married in 1875 (Pistorius is the man who sold Maccauvlei to Sammy Marks for an, at the time, unheard of sum of £15 500. Click here for more details).
Weilbach hartbeeshuisie door with old National Monuments Plaque on the right (Horst Müller)
The house is a typical farm house of those days. The brickwork, I have to assume, is made from mud bricks. The only exposed surface is on the inside of the gable, but that is made up of burned bricks dating from a later repair job. In 1943 it was reported that the building was in ruin and was later restored. The outside walls are remarkably thick, between 400 and 500mm. Window frames, lintels above...
