Page 130 - Bulletin 19 2015

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By the time of her son’s death the family were living in Rondebosch and the van Blerk family
says that this Mills family are related to, or are ancestors of, the founders of the well-known

firm of Mills Auctioneers.

Brown Lawrence & Co., no doubt attempting to recoup their loans, took ownership of
Millwood in 1913 and in 1918 sold it to Charles Fischer Smuts. The 1919 street directory

shows the building occupied by the well-known George Powell with A C Powell at the Gala

Café. (Figs. 3.17 & 3.18.)

In 1920 Smuts employed the services of architect Douglas Hoets who designed a new double

storey building with fine stonework on the street facade. It retained the name Millwood and
for many years after Smuts operated the building as a boarding house with a café on the

ground floor – the Gala Café – of the left wing. (Figs. 3.19 & 3.20.)

Smuts died in 1926 at the Wheatfield Nursing Home in Mowbray. Like many others the
family had been touched by the tragedy of war. His Will provided for a Bursary at Bishops in

memory of his son Charles Lawton Smuts, a member of the Royal Flying Corps killed on 23
April 1918. Millwood House, together with its garages and the cottage at the back, was

valued at £6,250. The best offer at auction in 1927 was £5,250 which was rejected, and the

property changed hands only in 1947 when it was transferred to Millwood Mansions (Pty)
Ltd.

To the rear of Millwood stands Millwood Cottage (now 5 Prenton Street). Henry Mills had
the plan passed a few days after marrying Jacoba. It went through the same ownership chain

as Millwood and after Smuts’ death his wife lived here. Although there have been additions

over the years the house is still clearly visible more than 100 years later. (Figs. 3.21 & 3.22.)

The next buildings on the Main Road were Beaufort Cottage and Kimberley House (now

Beaufort Villa and Craigside). As these properties and a lot of the land above are inextricably