De
Bergkant Lodge is a 19th century house, built in 1858 by local
craftsman Carel Lotz for his daughter Petronella on her marriage to
Helmuth Luttig. All Carel's houses have unique gables and while the
basic shape owes much to the Cape Dutch design, they are typical to the
village and are known as Prince Albert gables. The house has many fine
features: beautiful sash windows, elegant doors
and high, wooden
ceilings. After Helmuth's death Petronella married
a local farmer,
Christoffel Neethling, who employed two Madagascan stonemasons to build
the stone wall which surrounds part of the property.
In time the Dutch
Reformed Mission Church bought the house, which served
as home to the
mission dominee for some years.
De
Bergkant Lodge was declared a National Monument in 1985
and
is furnished with Cape antiques.
