Cape Dutch Houses and Other Old Favourites Review

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(More customer reviews)Let's face it - Cape Dutch is an obscure architectural style, but I have grown to love it, as have many enthusiasts around the world. I have only been able to locate 2 contemporary books about the topic - this one and Historic Houses of South Africa (also with photos by Alain Proust). The difference between them is that in "Other old favorites" there are few interior pictures and little detail about interiors apart from the standard elements (voorkamer, agterkamer). This may be a deficit for fools like me interested in building a Cape Dutch house. This book is more like an index - chock full of houses I have not even been able to uncover through Internet searches. This is helpful for students or historians (or to expose fools like me to the full scope of this vernacular). This book addresses broader historical issues and goes further back in history than "Historic Houses" possibly because it addresses more properties. None of the entries is very long, but each provides the reader with insight enough to search related sources of history if interested. It is a good primer in this way. Definitely a worthwhile purchase for architecture or history enthusiasts.

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An integral part of the renowned beauty of South Africa's southwestern Cape are the Cape Dutch houses that date back 200 to 300 years. Most are thatched, gabled and whitewashed; some are flat-roofed, double-storeyed and classically inspired. This historical and photographic record explores 150 old houses, paying tribute to the architects and craftsmen who created them.

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