Stellenbosch Museum

Stellenbosch Museum is a cultural history museum in the centre of Stellenbosch, South Africa. It was proclaimed a museum on 23 March 1962, and is a province-aided museum which receives support from the Government of the Western Cape. The museum includes four period houses which depict the way people lived and the difference in architectural styles over the periods illustrated (the Village Museum). It also includes a historical powder magazine and a toy museum.Schreuder HouseThe Schreuder House is the first period house in the museum complex and is furnished according to the period c. 1709. The house was built in August 1707 by Sebastian Schreuder, who was a German messenger of the court of the Dutch East India Company. It is a pioneer cottage with a thatched roof and clay floor. Because window glass had to be imported from Holland, the windows are made of linen or gauze stretched over a frame with beeswax to seal the cloth against the elements. During a hard downpour, the housewife simply closed the outside shutters; in fine weather the catches were released, the whole frame was lifted out, and fresh air was let in. The house was declared a monument in 1974, and is currently listed as a Grade II Western Cape provincial heritage site.Bletterman HouseThe Bleterman House in the museum complex depicts the period of c. 1789. The house was built by Hendrik Lodewyk Bletterman, Landdrost (Magistrate) of Stellenbosch from 1785–1795. This dwelling is a Cape Dutch H-shaped house and an examples of a gabled house from the 18th century. The site on which Bletterman House is situated was purchased by Hendrik Lodewyk Bletterman in 1787. Since the Hertzog plan of 1817 shows a building on this site, it is assumed that Bletterman built the house sometime before that date. After his death in 1824, the house was sold to the Landdrost and Heemraden, and was converted into offices and a courtroom, becoming the "Stellenbosch Public Offices". The outbuilding was renovated and equipped with 50 school benches and served as a school for slaves. The school was officially opened in September 1825,with Erasmus Smit as teacher. There is no record that the main house was ever used as a residence after Bletterman's death.The Stellenbosch Police used the buildings as their headquarters from about 1879–1969 when it was acquired by the Stellenbosch Museum. The house is listed as a provincial heritage site.