MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

semifinalists

The Randlord Mansions: The View

Another Randlord Mansion masterpiece is The View, the oldest surviving house in Parktown, built for Sir Thomas Cullinan (who gave his name to the world’s largest diamond). These mansions were built with imported teak, Italian marble, and stained glass, often featuring “hunting rooms” filled with trophies from African safaris and libraries stocked with leather-bound classics. They were designed to project a sense of permanent, European-style aristocracy in a city that was, in reality, a volatile and temporary mining camp.