Revive & Restore!

A previously dilapidated heritage cottage stands proud on a quiet street in Vosburg once again.

-  Marian van Wyk

THE OWNERS

Marcus Smit and his friends Len and Herman Kruger

WHERE

Vosburg in the Northern Cape Karoo

SIZE

155m2 (including outside rooms); erf 2 700m2

When the Home team visited Vosburg in July 2020, Ricks Karoo Winkel – the only restaurant in the village – specially opened its doors a day earlier than the planned official opening.

“Prior to that, there was no restaurant in Vosburg,” says architect Marcus Smit, co-owner of the getaway cottage we had come to photograph. “Ricks was supposed to open on Wednesday but I told them we were expecting visitors, so they had to open on Tuesday night,” he says with a smile.

And that’s how it is in Vosburg. “The village is off the beaten track, so it gets very few visitors. It’s also very peaceful and neat as a pin as it isn’t subjected to the usual influx of people and development.”

Marcus, who lives in Grabouw, instantly fell in love with the village when he visited his cousin Sandra Lemmer. By the end of 2017, a dilapidated cottage opposite the Dutch Reformed Church had caught his eye and got his architect's fingers itching. Marcus was drawn to its architecture, reminiscent of typical Karoo ‘brakdakhuise’ (flat mud-roofed houses).

But it would require a massive undertaking just to make it liveable, let alone restore it to the charming cottage it had once been almost a century ago.

A stunning revival