Glenshiel

This heritage house is very close to my office and I have been meaning to find out more about it for a while.

The former home of Sir William and Lady Isobel Dalrymple, it originally stood on a 27 acre site. William being one of the original Randlords after gold was discovered in Johannesburg, had influential friends and the house was designed in part by Sir Herbert Baker who was responsible for many of Johannesburg's mansions. Glenshiel was one of the first Johannesburg homes to have a swimming pool and tennis courts.

On the death of Sir William, the property was divided with Glenshiel and its stables retaining 7 acres and sold to Major Gordon Haggie. Haggie then enabled the house to be used by the Order of St John as a convalescence ward for war time amputees.

In 1950, Haggie had the stables converted into a home for his family, where they continue to live. He then lent Glenshiel on an indefinite basis to the Order of St John which has been allocated as their main office base.

The Parktown and Westcliff areas have some of the most beautiful gardens with thousands of trees. However, as it was originally a rocky outcrop with some scarce grass and succulents, it took dynamite and brought in soil to create the gardens. And I thought using a pick to plant a fruit tree last Friday was hard work!

Hope you enjoyed your history lesson for today :-)