Inhanhla, Igola & Ukuthula
Call me crazy, (thanks) but mid 2005 I decided, together with my wife, to buy 3
houses in Rouxville (2) and in Smithfield (1).
All the 3 houses need work, some more than others, so it is going to be
quite a challenge to get them up to the state they deserve to be. I have
seen some of the home-building and restoration shows on tv's and it is
never easy but everyone is happy in the end,
so why not give it a go!
I have 3 fantastic unique daughters, so why not have 3 unique houses?
This page is to keep you informed about progress made, and hopefully to convince you that it is hard work but also fun and very gratifying to restore a house.
We gave the houses their own names. The first one is Smithfield (need
least amount of work and being the smallest) is called Inhanhla, the
second one (a 400m2 house in Rouxville, needing more work) is called
Igola and the third one (an old farmhouse on 2 hectares needing substantial work) is called Ukuthula. All the names are Ndebele (similar
to Zulu, but not the same), since we lived in Bulawayo for 3 years.
I know the majority of people in the area are of Sotho origin, but since
there are also many Ndebeles of Sotho origin, I hope they won't mind. I
loved living and working in Bulawayo, so this is my little way of
remembering the nice time we had there.
We bought the houses for little money with the Smithfield one being the smallest but most expensive one and the other two less expensive (or cheaper). Of course since we are Europeans, we think most houses are cheap by comparison. But these houses where also cheap compared to other areas in South Africa. It would cost me more to build a house along the coast than to buy these 3 and restore them, so it seemed logical.
So where to start? Each house is a project on it's own! I plan to start easy, with the smallest house that needs least work. It is a nice pink type of color (which my daughters love) and it needs some work on the inside mainly. I also plan to take out the iron windows and replace them with sash windows.
On this page you will find the houses as we bought them.
"Inhlanhla" or Luck, Lucky, Happiness.
The house in Smithfield, least work to be done, most on the inside and
my girls just love
having a Pink House! I think it is best to start with an easy project :)
"UKUTHULA" or place of quiet, peace, calm..
This property has 2 hectares of land, that is also the main feature for
the time being.
It is a small house, that has not been kept in good condition for some
time,
so allot of work will be needed, but who cares.... Just start slowly and
I will get there!
"IGOLA" named after my wife (means wildcat in Ndebele) who is a bit of a
nice wild girl.
This house is probably the one that has most charm. The enclosed veranda
is not an original feature so we will be looking at that, but leave it
for the time being (can't do everything at once). It has 4000m2 ground
and has 4 rooms, so plenty of room, and plenty of work.
However, with some crack repairs and painting it will look so much
different.
After (or during more appropriately)
