Hill Side, one of Paarl’s best examples of Victorian architecture is for sale through Pam Golding Properties at R4.55 million.

One of Paarl’s best examples of Victorian architecture is for sale through Pam Golding Properties.

Hill Side is a national monument on Mill Street, one of the town’s oldest and most prominent addresses, close to leading schools, a library, a theatre, an art gallery and a restaurant.

The home dates back over 100 years, and includes features such as loft windows, wooden fretwork on the shady wraparound veranda, and gleaming wooden floors. The 2 139 m2 property is for sale at R4.55 million.

Hill Side was commissioned in 1902 by wine farmer Pieter Johannes Retief of the farm Esthersdal, in northern Paarl. He moved in on completion in 1904 with his wife Annie Mostert, who died a few years later. Retief continued to live in the home with his two unmarried daughters, and they were later joined by two grandsons who came to live with them while attending High School Gymnasium. One of these boys grew up to become an acclaimed academic at Stellenbosch University, Professor AC Cilliers, and wrote extensively about the home in his autobiography. Subsequent owners have included Springbok cricketer Louis Koen, and the current owners have been in residence for a decade.

PGP’s area manager for Paarl, Surina du Toit, says Hill Side was originally built in the typical Victorian style of a single storey home with a turret on one side, but this was later widened to build up a second-storey section.

“The original owners also laid down a wonderful garden, and planted a Norfolk Pine in front of the house which remains there to this day. The current owners have maintained and improved the landscaping to create a really exceptional garden,” says du Toit.

PGP’s MD for the Boland and Overberg regions, Annien Borg, says the home will appeal to lovers of the Victorian period as well as those with a taste for spacious, elegant rooms and high ceilings.

“This property is on one of the old big plots in Paarl with an enormous garden, making it ideal for a family,” she says. “The house is set well back from the street, and there is also potential for development of the loft area, or even conversion to a guesthouse – subject to zoning and planning permission, of course. Given its historic value, it is a real ‘find’ for the right buyer – it is very seldom that homes such as these come onto the market.”

The 534 m2 home faces north-east, and has four bedrooms and a study, three bathrooms, two kitchens and four reception rooms. There is covered parking for three vehicles plus additional off-street parking. The lawns are watered by a computerised irrigation system, and there are also a swimming pool, staff accommodation and an electronic gate.

Call Surina du Toit on 082 925 5755, 021 871 1480 or email surina.dutoit@pamgolding.co.za.