Oak-Villa Cottage, Baviaanskloof Road

Oak Villa is one of the first townhouses in Hout Bay and the first to be erected in the Baviaanskloof area. The original portion of this cottage, consisting of three rooms, was erected in 1850 by the then owner Mr. Trautman as a second dwelling house. It was later occupied by his son Fred Trautman who,. after the birth of his son in 1878, enlarged it by the addition of two extra rooms at the rear of the building, thus enabling him to accommodate his growing family. The cottage is a typical Cape Coastal vernacular house, built without the aid of an architect. The foundations are of rubble and the walls of whitewashed mud brick. The structure was possibly originally thatched but has since been replaced by a strongly pitched iron roof. The front facade is symmetrical with a central front door. The one gable contains a loft door, but the original ladder leading to this has since disappeared. The two front steps are still original and an old hitching post stands in front of the building. The later addition at the rear of the cottage has a flat corrugated iron roof. The cottage blends extremely well with its environment and should be preserved as it is one of the last remaining cottages in this area.The original structure was a humble fisherman's cottage whose construction dates from the 1850s. It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 23 July 1982.