The First Director's House at Johannesburg's Observatory is not in great shape. Nature is reclaiming this important heritage site as the years tick by. An article compiled by Lucille Davie for the City of Johannesburg in 2003 provides the following brief history:
In those early days Innes [Dr Robert Innes] lived in an attractive wood and iron house on the site. The house was originally imported from England and erected at Roberts Heights (now Voortrekkerhoogte airbase), but then dismantled and erected in Observatory. A second house from the base was dismantled and erected for President Jan Smuts, at Irene, where it still stands, and is now a museum. The Innes house still exists at the observatory, now unoccupied but feeling its age.
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The wood and iron structure from behind (The Heritage Portal)
Inside the First Director's House (The Heritage Portal)
Old fireplace (The Heritage Portal)
Nature is reclaiming the structure (The Heritage Portal)
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