De Bergkant, translated to ‘the side of the mountain’, has stood proudly at no. 5 Church Street, Prince Albert, since being built in 1858. Named after Queen Victoria’s royal consort, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, the quaint Karoo town was founded in 1762.

One of eighteen gabled homes in the village, De Bergkant was build by Carel Lotz, the creator of the unique architectural style, the ‘Prince Albert Gables’. Carel gifted the home to his daughter, Petronella, and her husband, Helmuth Luttig, in 1858 as a wedding gift.

Following Helmuth’s death a few years later, Petronella remarried a local farmer, Christoffel Neethling, who went on to employ two Madagascan stonemasons to build the stone wall which still surrounds part of the property today. In 1909 the Dutch Reformed Mission Church purchased De Bergkant and the property became home to the mission ‘dominee’ for some years to follow.

In 1986 the house was declared a national monument and restoration work began to return the home to its former glory, including its many fine features – beautiful sash windows, elegant doors and high wooden ceilings. Typical of the era, the Cape Dutch style was first brought to the Cape by the first Dutch settlers.

(Adapted from Helena Marincowitz’s words published by the Fransie Pienaar Museum)