Koopmans-de Wet House
Koopmans-de Wet House in 2011
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 Location within Cape Town
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| Established | 10 March 1914 |
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| Location | 35 Strand Street, 8001 Cape Town, South Africa |
| Coordinates | 33°55′15″S 18°25′17″E / 33.920941°S 18.421291°ECoordinates: 33°55′15″S 18°25′17″E / 33.920941°S 18.421291°E |
| Type | Historic site, Museum |
| Accreditation | Iziko Museums |
| Public transit access | Bus: MyCiTi 105, 101 |
| Website | http://www.iziko.org.za/static/page/history-of-koopmans-de-wet-house |
| Built | 1701–1793 |
| Architecture | Neoclassical |
Koopmans-de Wet House is a former residence and current museum in Strand Street, Cape Town, South Africa. The house became part of the South African Museum in 1913 and was opened to the public on 10 March 1914. It was declared a National Monument under National Monuments Council legislation on 1 November 1940. It is the oldest house museum in South Africa.
Strand Street is one of the oldest and widest streets in Cape Town. Between 1664 and 1702 Strand Street was spoken of as Zee Straat. A Dutch East India Company (VOC) record of 1704 refers to it as Breete Strand Straat, while another calls it Breete Opgaande Straat no. I. In 1790 the matter was settled and name-boards with Strand Straat affixed to the corner houses.
For two centuries Strand Street was home to the residences of citizens of the Cape Colony. The first house was occupied on 8 February 1664 by the baker Thomas Christoffel Mulder. Another resident was the wealthy butcher Henning Huysing, who built one of the first two-storeyed houses in the Cape Colony in the street. The Dutch East India Company granted erven (plots) to these employees, who would later play important roles as citizens of the colony. Huysing became a Vryburgher (or Vrijburgher) on 2 January 1684, a status in which an employee of the VOC was released from their contractual obligations to the company and permitted to farm, become a tradesman, or work for others. Ironically, Huysing would be instrumental in getting Willem Adriaan van der Stel, the Governor of the Cape Colony, recalled on charges of corruption.
The Company had imposed a grid of streets on the settlement, which divided it into blocks. Block J was bordered by Strand Street, Long Street, Castle Street and Burg Street and was divided into 10 erven (plots). Erven 7 and 8, on the Strand Street side, were granted by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel to Reijnier Smedinga in 1699 and 1701 respectively. Erf 8 is the site of the Koopmans-de Wet House.
The early dwelling, now substantially extended and altered, was built in 1701 by Reijnier Smedinga, silversmith, goldsmith, jeweller and joint assayer to the Dutch East India Company. In 1722, Anthonij Hoesemans, lessee of a Company's wine license, took ownership of the house and erf 8. His enjoyment of the property was brief, for in 1723 the minutes of the Council of Policy at the Cape of Good Hope begin to refer to Claas van Donselaar, a soldier who had been released from his contract on 4 May 1723, as the lessee of the wine license. Both Hoesemans and his wife, Rijkje van Donselaar, had died earlier that year. Claas van Donselaar was uncle to Rijkje van Donselaar and was made executor of the estate, along with Daniel Thibault and Jan Smit. The property was transferred to Jacob Leever in 1724, to Hendrik van Aarde in 1730, and from him to Willem Pool (c.1744).
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Wikipedia