In March 1994, we moved from the diamond mines to Marquard. We took possession of a house we'd bought the year before and which the owner occupied until we arrived. It was a very large house: seven bedrooms, a huge dining room, a pillared arch separating it from the lounge; a mammoth kitchen and pantry leading off. A wrap-around veranda which was closed in and a long passage running through the interior of the house. The Oregon pine floors, pressed steel ceilings and an elbow-height dado rails running along the papered walls were classic. The house was set on a double sized corner property in the middle of town and there was a erf / tract of land next door of the same size, which came with the house! At the bottom of the yard, were six garages and two outhouses. The property had business rights and Grant ran a motor repair workshop from here. We lived in this house for six years until in July 2000, I sold it. I subsequently bought our present house in a quieter part of town while Grant was away in West Africa.
Our first home in Marquard. The image doesn't do justice on the size of the house. Note that 21 years ago there was no need for high fences and electric gates around your property! A four-foot fence and small gate was all that was needed - primarily to keep your pets from wandering into the street
Shortly after I sold this house, the owner died leaving his young family penniless. The young widow sold the house to a wealthy businessman in town and he razed it to the ground. Last week Rina and I stopped outside the property and I took photos.
Only the fence and a pile of rubble remains of our first Marquard home
The front gate [posts] which led down a short garden path onto my front veranda
I'm linking my post to Good Fences Thursday here
Sounds like you made the most of that house while you lived there, Jo. Looks like a nice property. Too bad it's gone now, since you must have had many pleasant memories of living there.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo That is a big sad but it was the right thingto do for you and Grant the time.
ReplyDeleteOh my. I wonder what benefit the wealthy man has in living a vacant property with no house on it? It sounds like the house and property you first lived in was way beyond what you needed though at the time it suited Grant's purpose in running a shop from it. Now it seems you have another large house with many garages. Many more than most people have here. Mostly the upper limit is 2 garages in North America though these days you are doing well if you have one. Many people have none!
ReplyDeleteA great/sad story to go with your fence meme.
ReplyDeleteHello Jo, Looks like a pretty place and property. I hope you had many happy memories there, it is kind of sad to see it gone now. Enjoy your day and the weekend!
ReplyDeletethat is sad. all 3 houses i lived in as a child were torn down to build roads, 1 in Savannah GA and 2 in Kentucky... once when i was selling real estate back in the 90's, a doctor walked inour office and plunked down 500,000 dollars to buy a house on the river he had never been inside of. when i asked if he wanted to see it, he said no. i am going to tear it down. it was a grand old beauty and heart breaking to see it go. he build a giant sized home that covered the lot
ReplyDeleteHow strange for someone to raze that house and then not build anything else.
ReplyDeleteOh how sad...The world is changing so fast and Not for the better...
ReplyDeleteHang on to your hats!
hughugs
wow. a huge place now gone. it always feels so odd to return to a place you once lived, and even stranger when the house is gone. my childhood home is gone now, too.
ReplyDeleteThat's sad when a piece of your past gets destroyed like this.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the saying "You can never go home" is so true after you leave a place. It seems that the new owners never keep it like the way it was when you lived there. - Still a nice looking piece of property and fencing.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to my post as I am catching up on blogs today:
http://wishesdreamsandotherthings.blogspot.com/2015/09/good-fences-79-sunflower-delight.html