Randpark Ridge

Randpark Ridge
Randpark Ridge Show map of Gauteng Randpark Ridge Show map of South Africa Randpark Ridge Show map of Africa  Randpark Ridge shown within Gauteng
Location within Greater Johannesburg  Randpark Ridge
Coordinates: 26°06′04″S 27°57′25″E / 26.101°S 27.957°E / -26.101; 27.957Coordinates: 26°06′04″S 27°57′25″E / 26.101°S 27.957°E / -26.101; 27.957
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Municipality	City of Johannesburg
Main Place	Randburg
Area
• Total	9.00 km2 (3.47 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	18,033
• Density	2,000/km2 (5,200/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	23.8%
• Coloured	3.2%
• Indian/Asian	7.6%
• White	64.1%
• Other	1.4%
First languages (2011)
• English	67.4%
• Afrikaans	14.5%
• Zulu	4.3%
• Tswana	2.3%
• Other	11.4%
Postal code (street)	2169
PO box	2156
Website	http://www.randparkridge.com

Randpark Ridge is a suburb of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in the Roodepoort region (region C) of the Johannesburg metropolitan council. It fell into the town of Randburg during the apartheid era. Developed in the early 1980s and still relatively new, Randpark Ridge is bordered by several other suburbs including Weltevreden Park, Sundowner, Boskruin, Bromhof, Honeydew and Fairland. It is located on the far north-west extremity of Johannesburg.

The suburb has its origins as part of an old Witwatersrand farm called Boschkop, named after the distinctive hill to north of the surburb, which is now the Boschkop Nature Reserve in the suburb of Boskruin. On this land, an old brick farm house was supposedly built on the land in around 1860. In 1903 the farm was owned by a J. Labuschagne and he sold part of the original land and farm house to John Dale Lace. He added on to the original Boer farmhouse; two gabled sections to either side, and a dam, built over the spruit (stream) that is a tributary of the Klein Jukskei River. At this stage the house had a total of 25 rooms. He would lose his 1300 acre country estate to Standard Bank, who sold it to an Irishman, Tom Kelly, in 1927. Kelly then renovated and extended the old farmhouse, changing its name to Hy Many. A tree lined drive connected the farmhouse to the old Muldersdrift Road, now called Beyers Naude Drive. Kelly's daughter would sell the land in 1982 to the Gencor Trust and the land was rezoned for residential development. Attempts were made to keep the house and have it listed, as it was due for demolition, but no funds could be found for its restoration. By the early nineties it was run down and occupied by squatters before a fire destroyed the rear. By 1994 the old farmhouse was bought by developers who demolished the burnt out section illegally and in 1996, fifteen townhouse were built around it. The old farmhouse was modernized inside but the façade remains the same and has five original Jacaranda trees, possibly 90 to 100 years old. Regarded as the oldest brick house in Johannesburg it now stands in Frangipani Crescent, Randpark Ridge.