|
Built in 1913, Wynnstay is the gracious old home of the Johannesburg Youth Theatre. Sadly neglected over decades, it is finally getting back some of its former glory.
The back of Wynnstay, with the last of the scaffolding still in place
THE 95-year-old Wynnstay in Parktown was to be demolished to make way for a shopping centre, and then for a motorway, but it lives on, and after some recent TLC, heads happily towards its 100th birthday.
Wynnstay is the lovely double-storey home on the corner of Queens and St Andrew's roads, built in 1913 for Mrs EH Gregory, after the design of American architect Hill Mitchelson. Some time between 1928 and 1931 Mrs AL Goldberg bought the house and lived there until 1964. It was then bought, together with the four neighbouring houses, to be demolished and turned into a shopping centre.
But then the council bought the house, with a view to putting a huge highway through Parktown, part of its plans to circle the city in major roads. Fortunately that plan was shelved under pressure from groups like the Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust, in the form of the diminutive ball of dynamite, Flo Bird.
Now, Bird is again involved in the house, in the form of a donation of R80 000 for the restoration of its exterior.
"The house was in a shocking state," she says. The timber work was rotten, the downpipes were missing, the wooden window frames were rotten, and a veranda pole had collapsed, as had a concrete beam. The house retains its tall, pressed-steel ceilings and wooden floors but most of its fireplaces have been removed.
The Johannesburg Youth Theatre has been the tenant of the house and its neighbour, Ridgeholm, for the past 20 years, but because of a lack of funds has not been able to maintain the old houses.
Bird says this is the first time the trust has entered into a public-private partnership; the City has made a contribution of R170 000 to the restoration. For the moment, money could only be raised to restore Wynnstay.
Ridgeholm
Ridgeholm was designed and built in 1902 by architects Leck and Emley for attorney Richard Baumann, who worked for Lord Milner's Permits Committee. The committee controlled the return of the uitlanders from the refugee camps to their homes on the Rand.
The Natal Bank bought the home in 1913; Dr John van Niekerk bought the house in 1928 and sold it to Mrs MD Darke in 1937.
In 1964, together with Wynnstay, it was bought by developer Dennis Paget, who wanted to build a shopping centre. Shortly thereafter, the council bought both houses for its motorway plans.
Now Ridgeholm, with its attractive twin gables, houses the theatre's offices, a music room, storerooms brimming with costumes, and the actual theatre, seating up to 150 children.
It has "been shockingly altered", says Bird. The large front veranda was enclosed before the theatre moved in. The area is used as the theatre's dressing rooms. Its two tall gables are replicas of the gables of Groot Constantia in Cape Town.
Restoration
Bird is very pleased with the restoration of Wynnstay, saying that the architect, Jonathan Stone, tried to save the original wood but it wasn't always possible. "But it looks so good now." The house has a "special aesthetic" with its pretty Queen Anne style of architecture, according to Bird.
The neighbouring Ridgeholm, with its Groot Constantia gables
Stone says he has re-instated the fallen column, replaced the leaded lights in the downstairs bay windows, restored the timber window frames and timber gables, and repainted and repaired the roof.
"The houses are isolated and remain vulnerable." The front gardens of both homes were swallowed up with the widening of St Andrew's Road, and the back gardens are now parking areas, which means the houses "float in a sea of parking". The front gardens are softened by several tall palm trees and gnarled old pepper trees.
In addition, they are under intense pressure which is "not friendly to the old buildings".
Wynnstay is largely used by the theatre for rehearsals and set design, which takes a heavy toll on its wooden floors.
Eric Itzkin, the deputy director of immovable heritage in the City's arts, culture and heritage department, says that more money is being raised through an application to the lottery for further restoration.
He has fond memories of the theatre; he used to take his daughter as a pre-schooler to shows there. She signed up for colouring-in competitions run by the theatre, which has continued throughout her life. "They have faithfully sent her colouring-in books."
The theatre has produced numerous children's plays, like Aladdin, Beatrix Potter, Charlotte's Web and Peter Pan, in its small, homely venue, and has trained hundreds of young actors.
Levinsohn, the theatre's director and producer, recounts how her company come to occupy the houses. She had driven past the houses many times. "It was totally run down and hobos were living in it." She had approached the council several times but they'd turned her down each time.
Then she desperately needed new accommodation and applied again. "Amazingly they said yes, and I went to get the plans. There were two houses on it, I didn't know what to do," she says. Her husband is an attorney and she said to him: "I think I've stolen a house." To which he replied: "How could you steal a house?"
When the City acquired the houses they'd consolidated the two stands, and so she got two houses, and pays a nominal rent to the council.
Related stories:
|
