Houghton Estate

Houghton Estate
Houghton Estate Show map of Gauteng Houghton Estate Show map of South Africa Houghton Estate Show map of Africa  Houghton Estate shown within Gauteng
Location within Greater Johannesburg  Houghton Estate
Coordinates: 26°9′S 28°3′E / 26.150°S 28.050°E / -26.150; 28.050Coordinates: 26°9′S 28°3′E / 26.150°S 28.050°E / -26.150; 28.050
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Municipality	City of Johannesburg
Main Place	Johannesburg
Government
• Type	Lower Houghton and eastern part of Upper Houghton - Ward 73 (Region E). Western parts of Upper Houghton -Ward 67 (Region F)
• Councillor	Marcelle Ravid (Ward 73), Sihlwele Myeki (Ward 67) (DA (Ward 73), ANC (Ward 67))
Area
• Total	6.94 km2 (2.68 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	7,867
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	39.4%
• Coloured	2.0%
• Indian/Asian	22.4%
• White	34.3%
• Other	2.0%
First languages (2011)
• English	60.2%
• Zulu	8.0%
• Afrikaans	5.7%
• Northern Sotho	3.9%
• Other	22.3%
Postal code (street)	2198

Houghton Estate, often simply called Houghton is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, north-east of the city centre.

Houghton Estate has traditionally been informally divided into two areas: Upper Houghton, and Lower Houghton. Upper Houghton is the southern and south-eastern portion located on a ridge, while the northern Lower Houghton is flatter, and has a grid street pattern, with parts on both sides of the M1 freeway. Upper Houghton has been declared a National Heritage Area.

Upper and Lower Houghton are separated by the East-West section of Houghton Drive and part of Louis Botha Avenue. Small sections of Upper Houghton lie east of Louis Botha Avenue (bordering Observatory), and west of the north–south section of Houghton Drive (bordering Parktown and Hillbrow). Houghton is surrounded by wealthy suburbs in all directions, except south, where Upper Houghton borders less-affluent suburbs like Yeoville and Hillbrow.

Houghton was developed as a residential area around the turn of the 20th century, primarily by Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company (JCI). The suburb was laid out by surveyor Gustav Arthur Troye.

Historically a wealthy area, it contains many mansions on big stands, blocks of flats, as well as office parks (developed on the sites of former homes) on streets close to the M1 and on Louis Botha Avenue. Houghton is architecturally varied. There are good examples of art deco buildings (particularly some of the flats), and many of the large houses in the 1930s are good examples of the Modern style inspired by the work of Le Corbusier (Chipkin 1993), including Stern House (1935) designed by Rex Distin Martienssen and partners.