On Huguenot Road, the eye-catching curve-roofed veranda of Bethesda draws the attention of almost every visitor who passes it. Built around 1880, this Victorian building has a particular kind of charm and an original owner whose life was, by any measure, extraordinary.

A Man of Many Roles

Bethesda was once the home of Mr J P Kriel de Villiers, and to list his roles in the village is to understand something about what small community life demanded of its most capable members. At one time or another, and sometimes simultaneously, he served as mayor, postmaster, banker, teacher and organist.

By 1910 he had added another distinction to his CV: he became the owner of one of the first motor cars in Franschhoek. The only other person in the village to own one at the time was a Mr Treurnicht. In a village of horses and oxcarts, two motor cars must have caused quite a stir.

The Architecture

Originally the building was H-shaped , but the northern wing (depicted above) was demolished in the middle of the previous century.