A MANOR HOUSE IN NEWLANDS
What is now one of SACS High's two boarding houses was once the palatial residence of many characters and families who helped shape both the Cape and South Africa at large. Its opulent grandeur reflect the rise in fortunes of first the "Beer Lords" and then the "Rand Lords" that called Newlands home.
The First House: "Papenboom"
The Montebello Estate that Michaelis House overlooks once formed part of the much larger Papenboom Estate, which was granted to Rutger Mensing in 1764. Mensing had the distinction of being the first brewer in the Newlands area and made full use of all of the fresh water in the area. After Mensing's death the property passed successively to owners : Rudolph Steenbok; Hans Jurgen Hurk and Dirk Gysbert van Reenen. Van Reenen was responsible for the construction of Papenboom House, which was designed by Louis Michel Thibault - the renowned French architect.
A New House: Montebello
Later, the Papenboom Estate was divided and sold off in pieces. The portion known as Montebello (Beautiful Mountain) was purchased by Daniel Cloete who had founded Newlands Brewery.
Cloete decided to build a new mansion to reflect his commercial success - the result was Montebello House. He would not be the last brewer to stay there.
The manor house and surrounding estate was then purchased by Anders Ohlsson. Ohlsson had also purchased Newlands Brewery - founded by Cloete - so this must have just seemed like a natural progression.
Ohlsson's stay on the Estate would last some thirty years. In 1919, after the end of the First World War, it was sold to the family that would give the house its name: the Michaelises.
The Coming of The Rand Lords: The Michaelis Era
The man who bought the Montebello Estate was - like Ohlsson before him - an immigrant who had come to South Africa to make his fortune. He was born in Eisfeld in Germany in 1851 and landed in Port Elizabeth in 1876. Two years later he moved to Kimberly - a quickly developing mining town - attracted by the prospect of wealth to be made there.
Once the Michaelis family moved into Montebello, they quickly established themselves as 'Newlands Gentry'. Sir Max gave a large collection of Flemish and Dutch masterpieces to the Union Government, which led to him being knighted. These paintings, now known as The Michaelis Collection, is housed at the Old Town House. Sir Max's stay at Montebello lasted just over twelve years. He died in 1932 aged 80.
The Government Expropriates Montebello
In the 1950s, it was becoming clear that the South African College Schools were fast running out of space in the city and that a new premises would need to be acquired. As SACS was (and still is) a government school, the responsibility for doing so fell to the government. They found a solution in the Montebello Estate.
The Government expropriated most of the Montebello Estate, viz. the house and grounds. SACS moved in at the beginning of the 1960s. Cecil Michaelis, son of Sir Max, fought for years to stop the government from expropriating the last bit of the Estate he still owned: the head gardener's house, the stable buildings and the woodland. When he died in 1988, he left this property to the University of Cape Town on condition that it be used to establish an arts and crafts centre. This was done in 1993 and is now known as the Montebello Design Centre. The head gardener's house was transformed into a restaurant in 1993 by the Barty family, who still run it to this day.
The SACS Era: The Michaelis Boarding House
Part of the reason that SACS moved onto the Montebello Estate was because of the growing number of pupils that simply could not be accommodated at the campus in town. There were also a growing number of boarders that needed to be housed. The old Michaelis Mansion came to the rescue and would provide ample space to house several dozen borders.
"Michaelis Hostel" (named after the House's most famous residents) is now a home for boys that would otherwise not be able to attend SACS. The hostel houses 45 boys in dormitories of between 6 and 9, all of whom are cared for by the Hostel Master, five house masters and many other loving staff. It would be difficult to find a better place for boys to begin their boarding school experience.
