Page 54 - Bulletin 21

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that the origin of the beam could have been the “Great Storm in Table Bay” on 21 May 1737,

when eight Dutch East Indiamen were wrecked out of a fleet of nine ships. A huge amount of
ship’s timber was strewn on the Table Bay and Salt River beaches. Much of this was

purchased by the Free Burghers and no doubt by Wieser for his use at Groot Constantia, and
that the ‘overs’ were perhaps used in his building of Poespaskraal? (Figs. 2.26 & 2.27.)

Over the years, the fire place was modified and it is likely that the left hand support wall was

added to hold the weight of the ship’s beam and that the original fireplace extended the full
width of the flue.

Staircase

Our philosophy was - restore the old or replace with a replica. The stairs leading to attic were
in a bad state of repair, so were replaced with a replica. (Figs. 2.28 & 2.29.)

Floors

One seldom walks into a home today and sees beautiful Oregon wood floors. So we knew

that special care had to be taken to preserve this striking this feature of the Old Homestead.
The floors were in a poor state. As was typical in these old homes the joists were suspended

about half a metre above the ground. They were designed this way for ventilation of the
flooring. However, many of the joists were rotten, so we decided to fill in the half meter gap

with earth and rubble and then throw a concrete floor. On top of this we reused as many of

the original Oregon floorboards as we could and replaced the rest. After being sanded and
varnished they give the room a wonderfully warm feeling. (Figs. 2.30 – 2.33.)

Walls, windows, doors and surprise

The walls were damp, with both the lime plaster and paint peeling off, so we removed all the
loose plaster – to the clay level and in some cases down to the stones. We then we stippled

the walls with a weak plaster, then cement-plastered the walls, and finally painted them. If I
had to do this over again, I would use clay and lime on the walls rather than cement plaster.

(Figs. 2.34 & 2.35.)