Page 162 - Bulletin 19 2015
P. 162
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The house he designed received critical acclaim in the architectural field. In 1933 the SAAR
described it:
Something quite different to that which is usual, is generally the choice of an architect who
builds for himself. This house at St. James on the False Bay coast is a charming study of the
14th century farmhouse type adapted to modern times. Simplicity was the keynote of domestic
architecture during the middle ages, and here on the rugged slopes which overlook the False
Bay, this small house is delightfully typical. Within the house, the lounge, which is octagonal
at one end, shows the roof trusses of yellow wood with moulded king posts. (Figs. 3.52 &
3.53.)
It may well be that the ‘roof trusses’ are the rafters for which the house was named. The
property was registered in the name of his wife Alma. Permission was sought to roof the
house with shingles. Normally this required the house to be 20ft from the boundary. In this
case it was only 15ft but as ‘it is the wife of the well-known architect and it would be a most
desirable residence’ permission was given to go ahead.
The Elsworth family lived here for many years and children who lived in the area at the time
can remember him squeezing his black Rolls Royce into the garage and occasionally giving
children lifts in his magnificent car. (Figs. 3.54 & 3.55.) His wife Alma Lucy died in
November 1971 and Lance Elsworth was killed in a car accident near Somerset West a month
later on 23 December 1971. He was 80 years old and was still actively involved in
architecture. His funeral took place at Holy Trinity Church, Kalk Bay.
Development of Quarterdeck Estate, 1934 – 1950
A section of a City Council plan drawn by E W Attridge, shortly after the Municipal
Amalgamation in 1915, shows the undeveloped land that was to become Quarterdeck Estate.
All the earlier houses shown on the 1900 plan appear, plus The Rafters which was built in
1931. From behind Beaufort Cottage to Quarterdeck Road the land is vacant apart from the
