Joe Blog

Join us for a ramble down historical Rhodes Avenue in Parktown West - featuring homes by many of the great architectural names in early Johannesburg including: Baker and Masey, Frank Emley, Hill Mitchellson, Waterson and Veale, and Robert Howden (who built his own home on the street).

Originally named Hermann Road, after the pioneering financier Hermann Ecksteen, it was renamed as a result of Anti-German feeling during World War One after the eminently Anglophilic Cecil John Rhodes.

So, join your guide Karen Curry as we follow in the footsteps of the Randlords and other prominent residents of Rhodes Avenue. Along the way, you’ll meet many interesting characters such as the author Sarah Gertrude Millin, a silent-movie maker, the founder of St Katherine’s School for Girls, a mayor, a Chief Magistrate, a few professors, and the woman who finally proved the controversial theory of Continental Drift. Plus, you’ll be treated to panoramic views of Joburg’s famous ‘purple carpets’ of Jacarada trees in bloom.

As this is a walking tour, please wear comfortable walking shoes, a hat and sunblock - and bring along drinking water.