COLONIAL HOUSES OF SOUTH AFRICA

Graham Viney, with photographs by Alain Proust. First edition hardcover with dustjacket in slipcase, published by Struik, 1987. 288 pages; full colour photographs and period illustrations throughout. Excellent condition. Postnet R110.00. The author selected twenty-three widely divergent examples to recount the fascinating story of early South African houses which he examines against a background of styles and fashions prevailing at the time, not only in South Africa but elsewhere in the world. From the simple dignity of Barville Park in the Eastern Cape to the grand-scale opulence of the Tuynhuis in Cape Town, their histories, both architectural and domestic, are presented, including information on the circumstances of the buildings, the families who occupied them, and their fate at the hands of subsequent generations. In addition to detailed descriptions, the author has provided equally pertinent insights into the attitudes and aspirations of the men who built them, as well as the opinions expressed about them by some of their contemporaries.