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A SOCIAL AND ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF THE QUARTERDECK AREA,

KALK BAY

Steve Herbert

Introduction

This area of Kalk Bay, lying between the Main Road and Boyes Drive is bounded on the

south by Dalebrook Road and on the north by Kimberley Road. It has some of the oldest

(Beaufort Cottage) and newest (Nieuport) buildings in Kalk Bay ranging in style and size
from original holiday cottages to very large and expensive dwellings. It became an area

favoured by the wealthy who came initially to take the sea air. Around the 1890s buildings
along the Main Road became boarding houses, taking advantage of the increased number of

people visiting and holidaying in Kalk Bay. In the 1930s a different trend started. Many large
and expensive homes were built by a very different type of person socially and economically

from the fishing community and traders of the village proper.

Early history

By the time of the Second British Occupation in 1806 there were few buildings in Kalk Bay,

except for a couple of lime kilns and a toll house. A Dutch East India Company (DEIC) map

of the Steenbergen and part of False Bay coast, dated 1797, shows a ‘Tolhek’ with two
buildings near a stream and close to the coast. Judging from other natural landmarks this

appears to be the vicinity of the Dalebrook stream. (Fig. 3.1.) One other building is shown
situated further north and higher up the slope in St. James.

Under the DEIC all land belonged to the Company, except for a few land grants. This