GRAAFF-REINET NEWS – Notice was given earlier this week that the Urquhart House Museum in Graaff-Reinet is closed until further notice as restoration work on this building has commenced.
The exact date this house situated at the southern end of Market Square was built is unknown but it is assumed that it was built between 1806 and 1821.
The building boasts a Cape neo-classical pilaster front gable ornamented with an anchor and numerous stars the reason for which is unknown.
After changing hands several times the house was bought in 1912 by Herbert Urquhart MBE a former mayor of Graaff Reinet.
The municipality bought the property from the Urquhart estate in 1964 and having been the residence of Urquhart for over 50 years it became known as “Urquhart House”.
In 1990 the town council transferred ownership of the house and remaining portion of the garden to the Graaff Reinet Museum.
The house contains many fine examples of period furniture, bric a brac and a unique peach pip kitchen floor.
The restoration of the Urquhart House was recently realised after the Graaff-Reinet Museum received a sizable grant of R1.6 million from The Rupert Historic Homes Foundation.
The grant was allocated to the restoration of two early 19th century Cape Buildings, Urquhart House and the Old Residency, the renovation of the Military Museum, the installation of a closed-circuit television security systems in three buildings and the conversion of an underutilized room to serve as a digital library and archive.
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