Bertram House

albino squirrel in the Company Gardens

If you walk down Government Avenue in the center of Cape Town, through the Company Gardens and go past the large South African museums and historic government buildings to the very end, you will come upon tiny Bertram House. Built circa 1839, it reopened its doors to the public at the end of 2010 after extensive renovations.

Bertram House is the only remaining example of the English Georgian-style red brick houses that were once common in Cape Town. It was built by the English immigrant and notary, John Barker, who named it in memory of his first wife, Ann Bertram Findlay. 

Subsequent owners and tenants of the property reflect the society of 19th century Cape Town. They include Captain Robert Granger, a merchant and owner of 5 ships after whom Granger Bay is named, as well as Tiberias Benjamin Kisch, the first Jewish professional photographer at the Cape. The interior has been recreated with porcelain and furnishings in order to depict Bertram House as the home of a prosperous English family of the first part of the 19th century. 

The house was cool but I really enjoyed the Georgian colonial style garden tucked away on the side of the house with its center sun dial and brick walks. It reminded me so much of my own vintage tempus fugit sundial that sat in the middle of a little herbal tea garden I cultivated in my backyard in NJ. Lemon verbena. Chamomile. Mint.

my tea garden in the USA was always ready for 4 o'clock

the winter tea garden covered in snow and Christmas lights

Like my garden, the gardens at Bertram House would be a great place to just sit for a while and have a cuppa. But they weren't serving so next time I will have to bring my own.