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6 April 2026: Explore Muizenberg both Modest and Magnificent 

Driving along Beach Road in Muizenberg one often marvels at the impressive range of grand Italianate, Edwardian and Art Deco holiday houses between Alexander and Maynard Road, so it was a treat to learn more about them on a historic walking tour with Muizenberg Heritage. Muizenberg was the Brighton of South Africa at the turn of the 19th century, with the railway providing easy access to the coast, and its magnificent beach attracted the rich and famous.

Our walk started at the corner of Alexander and Beach Road with the imposing Italianate house called Glenville, now owned by George Whitefield College. Standing in front of the grand columned entrance on a busy beach-Saturday it is difficult to imagine the Pevsner family being driven in their Rolls Royce out of the garage. Anya Pevsner fashioned herself as the leader of Cape Society, and the tour participants were entertained by anecdotes about her life.

The Pevsners at Glenville were relative latecomers to Beach Road in Muizenberg. Imperial architect Herbert Baker chose to build his own beach house called Sandhills along this road as early as 1899, and his architectural partnerships were responsible for four neighbouring houses and the grand Vergenoeg, situated nearby on the dunes. Baker was attracted to Muizenberg when it was wild and remote, and he is quoted as lamenting the popular beach resort it had become by the second decade of the 20th century. There are some interesting architectural contrasts on Beach Road. Sir Ernest and Lady Ina Oppenheimer’s Blue Mountains looks positively staid next to the over-the-top Italianate mansion built for David Lazar by William Hood Grant!

Alexander Road divides affluent Beach Road from the more modest Village. Here artisans, traders and boarding-house keepers did a vigorous trade during the short season, and eked out a living in the nine other months of the year. Palmer Road was and still is the heart of the Village, and from the 1920s housed butchers, fishmongers, dairies, shoemakers, drapers and building supply merchants. The Village remains full of character with lots of vibrant shops and restaurants in Palmer Road, and homeowners take pride in their brightly painted and mosaiced houses.

Muizenberg Heritage will be repeating this walk “Rags to Riches - A Walking Tour Exploring Muizenberg both Modest and Magnificent” on 18 April. 

Tickets are R200 for non-members on Quicket at https://www.quicket.co.za/events/365244-rags-to-riches-a-walking-tour-exploring-muizenberg-both-modest-and-magnificent/#/

or R100 for members via email at  info@muizenbergheritage.com

Beach Road was once just a sand track on the dunes of Muizenberg. Visible here are Sandhills (1899) and the house Baker built for Professor Fremantle (1902).

17 October 2025: Three heritage events to look forward to this October and November 

Unraveling the Mysteries of the Heimann Muizenberg Map

Sunday 26 October, 3pm at Rhodes Cottage

Muizenberg Heritage has recently received a generous bequest from one of our supporters: a map of Muizenberg dated 1890. Brett McDougall has spent the last few months unraveling its mysteries, and there's a fascinating story to tell. Join an unveiling of the map at Rhodes Cottage on Sunday 26 October at 15h00, and discover how it came into being and of the world that it describes. No matter how well you think you know Muizenberg, you are bound to be surprised and delighted.

Tickets R100 - Booking on Quicket

https://www.quicket.co.za/events/341110-unraveling-the-mysteries-of-the-heimann-muizenberg-map/?ref=organiser-profile#/

Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the founding of Farmer Peck's Inn

Sunday 16 November, 10h00 in Muizenberg Park at the corner of Main Road and Camp Road

Nobody is quite sure how Henry Peck and his brother Simon arrived in the Cape from their home in England, but in about 1825 they founded an Inn situated next to the British military camp at Muizenberg that would for 30 years serve as the main stopover for travelers between Wynberg and Simon's Town. Muizenberg has seen dramatic changes over the last 200 years, and that humble Inn has been replaced by a tall apartment building, but the landscape that the Peck's would have known – Muizenberg's white sands, the majestic mountains to our west, and the stream that gave refreshment to soldiers, travelers, farmers and their animals – remains. Join us in commemorating the 200th anniversary of the founding of Farmer Peck's Inn, and meet Henry's descendants and hear their fascinating story.

No booking required, but a R50 donation to Muizenberg Heritage is appreciated on the day.

Hollywood on the Vlei: the remarkable Gloria Heights

Saturday 29 November, 10h00 at 18 Axminster Road, Muizenberg

Muizenberg has a unique and varied built landscape that extends from Het Posthuys, possibly the second oldest extant structure in South Africa, to notable examples of Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco and Modern Movement architecture. Gloria Heights is one of the most important examples of residential architecture in Muizenberg, and certainly the most significant residential structure from the 1930s. Occupying a corner site, it was meant to be viewed in the round, and architect Kenneth Commin took great care in its external form and architectural detailing. The interior is even more important, as it showcases a number of materials (for example, in its use of chrome hardware) and design techniques (for example, in the use of marbled stucco plaster) that are unique to the period. The house has the most intact Art Deco interior known in Muizenberg, and possibly in the whole of Cape Town. Join us to view this Art Deco marvel.

Tickets R150 - Booking on Quicket:

https://www.quicket.co.za/events/341115-hollywood-on-the-vlei-the-remarkable-gloria-heights/#/