CAPE DUTCH ARCHITECTURE  

CAPE DUTCH HOUSE PLANS AND ARCHITECTURE CONSULTANTS. At Beverley Hui architects we design homes in both modern and traditional Cape Dutch styles. The Cape dutch house plan typical is formed in a U or H shape, which creates a sheltered area from the wind. The design is well suited to modern adaptations, to make the house plan more spacious and roomy.  In the picture to the left is a beautiful Cape Dutch House in Franschhoek, whereas on the right, we see a modern interpretation of the Cape Dutch House by Beverley Hui Architects. The gables have been straightened and the house plan is in an L-shape. Contact us, we would love to design a unique and beautiful Cape Dutch Style house plan for you!

Left: LA DAUPHINE Traditional Cape Dutch Style, South Africa 

Right: Modern Cape Dutch Architecture by Beverley Hui Architects

THE CAPE DUTCH HOUSE  PLAN

Early   Cape Dutch houses were built in sections one room wide – usually about 6m wide and never wider than 7.5m.  The weight of the roof tends to push the walls outward, technically termed “lateral thrust”.  This lateral thrust in the roof of the Cape Dutch house would have pushed the walls over, if the span was wider than 7.5m. This limitation on the width of the roofs actually gave rose to much of the charm and unity of the Cape Dutch style homes.  At first, the houses were simple rectangles consisting of three rooms: the kitchen, the living room and a bedroom.  The L-shaped house plan was the obvious next development for plans of the Cape Dutch style. A yard could be neatly tucked between the main house and the one wing.  

Left: GROOT CONSTANTIA Cape Dutch Home South Africa

Right: BOSCHENDAL Cape Dutch Architecture in Between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek

At about the same time, round the beginning of the 18^th century, the T-shaped house started emerging. The kitchen was usually housed in the “tail” of the building, so that the chimney ran up the back end-wall. The room in front of the kitchen became the dining and living area.

Later in the 18^th century, the earliest H-house plans began to appear in the Cape . The earliest known H-plan is at Vergelegen. In “the early H plan”, one enters between two rooms into a hall with a screen behind it. Beyond the screen, one continues to the living area, where light streams in from the other side.  This house plan was fashionable until the end of the 18^th century, when “the late H plan” became more popular. The late H-plan seems like a fairly obvious development from the T-shaped house, by the addition of back wings, to the “kitchen tail”.  La Provence , Rhone and Boschendal, are good examples these Cape Dutch House Plans. 

Houses with U shaped plans are most common in and around Cape Town . There are several versions of the U-shaped plan, depending on whether the courtyard created in the middle was roofed over or not.  As one travels further from Cape Town , there is a tendency to see more wings and outbuildings added in various configurations. Many of these are additions, as the original Cape Dutch houses were almost always symmetrical. 

Above: Development of the Cape Dutch house plan: T at Zevenwacht; T with wing at Kastanjeberg, H at Neethlingshof. The fourth house plan shows the U- shaped variation common near Cape Town, this example is a home from Stellenberg.  (after Hans Fransen 1965)

Left: MORGENSTER Early Cape Dutch Gable Style, Somerset West, South Africa

Right: ZEVENWACHT Later Cape Dutch Architecture Style House over looking a lake. Botelary, South Africa.

THE CAPE DUTCH GABLE 

The triangular portion of wall against which the roof rests is termed the gable.  In tracing the origins of the Cape gable, one must distinguish between end-gables and central gables. The end-gables are older in form and can be easily traced back to the Netherlands . There, because town houses were built on narrow sites, the end-gable is the main gable and rises high above the front door.  At the Cape , where thatch was used for all pitched roofs, end-gables protected the thatch from being ripped off by gale winds, while at the same time being easier to construct than hipped roofs on the Cape Dutch homes.

The emergence at the Cape of the central gable as a prominent feature of the home is less easy to explain than that of the end-gable.  It seems it was added for aesthetic reasons, since the side of the house, no longer banked by neighbours, was now the front façade, and was a long uninterrupted wall, begging for a feature to break it. Considering the prosperity of the second or third generation of settlers at the Cape , a need arose to express some sign of “status” on the home, the most natural place being above the front door in what was now the centre façade.  

Left: VERGELEGEN Well preserved, Early Cape Dutch Architeture style, Somerset West, South Africa

Right: VERGENOEGD Also an early baroque Cape Dutch Architecture Style home

The very earliest roofs were of straw or bulrush; Cape reed was soon found to be the best material though. The pitch began at a high gothic angle but was soon lowered, to about 50º and later to 45º.  Technically, a centre gable is more difficult to construct than end-gables or dormer gables. The timbering is more complex, and the thatch has to carry into and out of valleys – with no metal underlay either. No doubt, the technique was learnt by trial and error and very slowly.   Due to the non-waterproof nature of the walls of the Cape Dutch houses, they had to be both plastered and limewashed. The same applied to the gables. Regarding the decoration of the gables, it is clear that craftsmen skilled in the use of stucco (moulded lime-plaster, usually on a base of projecting and trimmed brick) were available.  

Early "Baroque" Cape Dutch gables at Joostenberg, Hanzendal, Morgenster & Vergelegen, South Africa

Later "Neo-classical" Cape Dutch gables at Rustenberg, La Dauphine & Neethlingshof (cellar), South Africa

The earliest gables were curvilinear in a “lobed” fashion – with all the curves bulging outward in a cloud-like fashion. The gable at Joostenburg is considered among the earliest surviving.  The concavo-convex, or “holbol” gable developed soon after.  Simple forms are found at Spier and Vergenoegd.   The holbol gables soon became more elaborate, in a kind of “baroque” style.  Plaster bands would swirl in from the outside with ever increasing length and depth. At the same time, the above concave portions were replaced with S-shapes, and were often topped with a “shell” at the pinnacle. Good examples are found at Hazendal, Morgenster, and Idas Valley .  

Later a pedimented gable moved into fashion.  A central panel, surrounding the front door and gable window, projected forwarded to take a round or triangular pediment. Examples can be found at Stellenberg, Groot Constantia, and Rustenberg. 

These sporadic early pedimented gables were soon followed by the typical pilaster or “Neo-classical” gables, which burst into bloom almost overnight at about 1975, after the elaborate baroque style had burnt itself out. These neo-classical gables, typically had two sets of pilasters – one on delineating the limits of the gable, and the other placed inwardly, either side of the central gable window.  The inner set would sometimes be finished on the top with a set of urns.  On the outer flanks, various configurations of scrolls, and horns emerged. The gables were sometimes further decorated with scrolls, swags, vases, stars and even vines (see the house at Bourgogne ). 

In my opinion, much of the fascination of the Cape Dutch gables arises from their at once similarity and uniqueness.  Just as every human face has some anchor points: eyes, nose and mouth – these come in a wide variety of shapes and proportions, supporting our different personalities.  In the same way, the Cape Dutch gable, has its center window, pinnacle, and side wings, but these can be shaped and interrelated in such a surprising number of ways, and yet almost always look “just right”!

(Adapted by Beverley Hui architects, from H.Fransen & M.Cook, The Old Houses of the Cape, 1965, A.A Balkema / Cape Town / Amsterdam)  

MODERN INTERPRETATIONS OF CAPE DUTCH ARCHITECTURE

A number of very beautiful modern homes have been designed by architects in the last 50 years.  Some attempt to emulate the traditional Cape Dutch architecture exactly, while others have made a more bold of their modernism. At Tokara, the gable is completely straight and at 30º, in a fashion unthinkable by the 18^th century Cape settlers.  At Zorgvliet, we find a beautifully proportioned façade with three windows either side of the main gable.  The gable is a pleasant and softer interpretation of the original Zorgvliet home. At La Motte, we find some bold use of materials, with the use of brick panels in a subtle and tasteful manner.  In Lifestyle Estates, such as the Popular De Zalze Golf Estate, guidelines promoted an architecture that can be regarded as a Modern Cape Dutch style.  Because of the number of houses next to each other, the architecture may have benefited from some softening of the gables with curvilinear elements.  It seems there was a fear of “kitch” architectural interpretations of the traditional Cape Dutch.  

The modern layouts, make good use of an H-house plan, with an elongated middle portion, so that a sizeable “covered stoep” can be introduced between the two wings of the “H”. The U-shape can also be pleasantly re-interpreted for modern needs, by pushing the wings outward to create a useful space in middle, big enough for a sheltered swimming pool and entertainment area.  

Bellow: House designs by Beverley Hui architect, in the modern Cape Dutch Style, or Cape Vernacular , as it has been termed by the Estates.  Beverley Hui Architect designs homes in a Traditional or Modern Cape Dutch Style house plan, to suite your dreams…  

MODERN CAPE DUTCH ARCHITETURE STYLE by BEVERLEY HUI ARCHITECTS

for more information see this website: Cape Town Architects 

The Cape Dutch Architectural Style is surely among the most beautiful in the world.  One is immediately struck by the simplicity, proportion and beauty of the carefully crafted white walls against the blue skies of Cape Town. Though having Dutch roots, the architecture style in its full development, is entirely unique to the region. A time of prosperity for Dutch and French settlers in Cape Town, South Africa, meant they had the means to lavish care and attention on their houses.  Because many of the homes were built as farmsteads, the architecture benefits from spacious positioning on the land.  The well treated relationship between the house and outbuildings, such as cellars stables and barns, gives rise to an interesting architectural expression of the walls, gateways and landscaping that weave them together. Although the design of the farm layout may have seemed like common sense to the settlers at the time, much can be learnt from a design point of view for architects in the 21st century. 

The graceful curves of a Cape Dutch gable or the intricate pattern of a fanciful moulding, make the Cape Dutch style so unique and charming.  The Cape Dutch houses of add so much to the beauty and grandeur of the region.