| Villa Arcadia | |
|---|---|
 Villa Arcadia | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Address | 22 Oxford Road |
| Town or city | Parktown, Johannesburg |
| Country | South Africa |
| Current tenants | Hollard |
| Client | Sir Lionel Phillips |
Villa Arcadia is a mansion at 22 Oxford Road, Parktown, Johannesburg. It was built for Sir Lionel Phillips, one of the influential Randlords that dominated the early history of the city. Today it is one of the Parktown mansions that are preserved as part of the city's heritage.
In 1896 Sir Lionel Phillips was banished from South Africa after the Jameson Raid. He narrowly escaped the death sentence and was fined £25,000 and exiled. [1]
He and his wife returned and took up residence in this house known as Villa Arcadia. The first building here was a Swiss Chalet that had been imported as a prefabricated house in 1897 for Carl Rolfe, a German businessman. [2] In 1909 Herbert Baker and Francis Edward Masey were employed to design a new house at 22 Oxford Road. This was one of the last houses designed by the partnership as it was dissolved the following year with Masey leaving for Rhodesia to escape Baker's dominance. [3]
The current Villa Arcadia was completed with considerable input and design changes from Florence Philips. A music room was added to the house by Baker, separated from the house by a landscaped cloistered courtyard. The house features a long veranda on the ground floor fronted by eleven arches with extensive views of the M1 motorway and overlooking what was once the Sachsenwald. Today the view is the Saxonwold and Forest Town suburbs and the Johannesburg Zoo.
The property was sold and a Jewish orphanage was established in the house in 1923. [4] General Jan Smuts opened the Orphanage which ran in the Villa until 2002 with its highest number of orphans in 1939 at over 400.
The House itself now houses a modern art collection, a number of boardrooms and entertainment facilities. [4]
The Union Buildings form the official seat of the South African Government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjieskop at the northern end of Arcadia, close to historic Church Square and the Voortrekker Monument. The large gardens of the Buildings are nestled between Government Avenue, Vermeulen Street East, Church Street, the R104 and Blackwood Street. Fairview Avenue is a closed road through which only officials can enter the Union Buildings. Though not in the centre of Pretoria, the Union Buildings occupy the highest point of Pretoria, and constitute a South African national heritage site.
Sir Herbert Baker was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He was born and died at Owletts in Cobham, Kent.
St John's College is an Independent Anglican day and boarding boys' school situated in Houghton Estate in the city of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It was founded in 1898 and comprises five schools: College, Preparatory, Pre-Preparatory and The Bridge Nursery, as well as a co-educational Sixth Form. St John's College is a member of the ISASA.
Houghton Estate, often simply called Houghton is an affluent suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, north-east of the city centre.
Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, the first suburb north of the inner city. It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Parkwood, Westcliff, Parktown North, Parkhurst and Forest Town. Parktown is one of Johannesburg's largest suburbs, neighbouring Hillbrow, Braamfontein and Milpark to the South; Berea and Houghton to the East; Killarney and Forest Town to the North, and Westcliff, Melville and Richmond to the West. Originally established by the Randlords in the 1890s, Parktown is now home to many businesses, hospitals, schools, churches and restaurants, whilst still maintaining quiet residential areas. It is also home to three of the five campuses of the University of the Witwatersrand including the education campus, medical school and Wits Business School. Parktown is now divided into Parktown and Parktown West with Jan Smuts Avenue forming the dividing line. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
Greenside, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Greenside borders on the suburbs Emmarentia, Parkview, Parkhurst and Victory Park.
Roedean School for Girls is a private English medium and boarding school for girls situated in the suburb of Parktown in the city of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province of South Africa.
Randlords were the capitalists who controlled the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa in its pioneer phase from the 1870s up to World War I.
Sir Maximillian Michaelis, was a South African financier, mining magnate, benefactor and patron of the arts.
Sir Lionel Phillips, 1st Baronet was a British-born South African financier, mining magnate and politician.
Dorothea Sarah Florence Alexandra, Lady Phillips was a South African art patroness and promoter of indigenous culture. She was married to Sir Lionel Phillips, 1st Baronet, a mining magnate and politician and was known by one of her middle names, Florence.
Parktown Boys' High School is a public English medium high school for boys situated in Parktown, a suburb of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is one of the oldest schools in Johannesburg. Parktown Boys' sister school is Parktown High School for Girls.
The Johannesburg Art Gallery is an art gallery in Joubert Park in the city centre of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the largest gallery on the continent with a collection that is larger than that of the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town.
The Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital is an accredited general hospital in Parktown, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
The mansions of Parktown are an important part of the history of the city of Johannesburg. They were the homes of the Randlords, accountants, military personnel and other influential residents of early Johannesburg, dating back as early as the 1890s. The first of these mansions, Hohenheim was designed by Frank Emley and was built for Sir Lionel Phillips and his wife Lady Florence Phillips. The name Hohenheim had been used originally by Hermann Eckstein, one of the first Rand Lords to name his house after the place of his own birth. When Phillips became the head of Eckstein & Co, he moved in to Eckstein's house but due to the expansion of the city decided to build the new Hohenheim in an enviable site further from the mine workings. Sir Lionel Phillips was banished from the Republic for his involvement in the Jameson Raid. It is perhaps fitting that the next occupant of this famous house was none other than Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, the author of the best selling book 'Jock of the Bushveldt'. The house was demolished but a plaque remains in honor of this building.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province of South Africa.
The Rand Club is a private members' club in Johannesburg, South Africa, founded in October 1887. The current (third) clubhouse was designed by architects Leck & Emley in 1902 and its construction completed in 1904. Cecil John Rhodes helped to select the location.
Lauriston Court is a residential building in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg. The building was designed by the prominent architecture firm, Emley and Williamson and completed in 1936.
James Alfred Cope-Christie was an architect in early Johannesburg and Rhodesia. He was born in England and educated in London and came to The Cape in 1894. Cope-Christie was articled to Charles Freeman in the Cape but really made his important contributions in the Rand and Rhodesia.
Ernest Willmot Sloper was an architect active in Johannesburg, South Africa and in the United Kingdom. He designed Bishopskop for Michael Furse, bishop of Pretoria. He also designed his own house in Parktown, Endstead
Coordinates: 26°10′30.36″S28°2′23.1″E / 26.1751000°S 28.039750°E
