Klein Zoar.

Help Save a slice of History ....

I’ve only been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century, for the sake of my house (built in 1710). It’s a very special place, with a heroic past and uncertain future.

When in 1984, my husband David and I saw that Klein Zoar (a National Monument and reputedly once the home of Wolraad Woltemade) was up for sale, we viewed the run-down property, fell in love, and put in an offer. This love-affair lasted David’s lifetime.

His dragging illness set the responsibility of curatorship firmly on my shoulders. On his death in 2004, well-meaning friends had urged me to move, suggesting the security of a contemporary lock-up-and-go complex. To me, this wasn’t an option.

It’s hard to stand by, helpless, watching someone die. I had drawn strength from the thought of the women who lived on the property over the centuries – including the courageous pioneers who arrived in this unknown country with their pots and pans and handwritten family recipes. I couldn’t let them down.

Now - despite writing a book about the house to raise money; letting the main house and selling treasured antiques to downscale into the minute “east wing” - as a pensioner, I cannot afford the crippling cost of re-thatching Klein Zoar.

In my book you can read about the perils and pleasures of preserving the past, but right now, I need help to repay the money I have borrowed to re-thatch Klein Zoar before the onset of the winter rains.

Please click on the links on this page to assist.

Thank you!

Jos Baker.

http://www.josbaker.co.za/preserving_a_house_by_jos_baker.html