Your guide to Heidelberg Gauteng
#Oakview Manor
Heritage Blue Plaque #Nr 9
OAK VIEW MANOR - 66 Fenter Street
What is the story here?
Built in 1917 in a Cape Dutch design. The house has been in the Erasmus family since the 1960s. Dr. Edward John Nixon (1858-1939) and Servaas Daniel De Wet lived here. Dr Nixon was 2nd in command to the Heidelberg Volunteers, district surgeon, master of the Heidelberg Free Mason lodge and a member of the Heidelberg Club. The house was named “Oak View Manor” in 2017 and is now a guest house and restaurant.
THE HISTORY OF OAK VIEW MANOR AND DR EDWARD JOHN NIXON
ARCHITECTURAL MYSTERIES AND CONSTRUCTION ORIGINS (1917)
Recent historical research has clarified the true origins of this stately property, revealing that the house was originally commissioned by Dr Edward John Nixon rather than Servaas Daniel de Wet as previously recorded in local annals. Servaas de Wet Junior presumably acquired the property later from the Nixon estate. Two separate family headstones are preserved in the Kloof Cemetery, confirming that Servaas de Wet Senior was a contemporary of Dr Nixon.
According to the archival text Geskiedenis van Heidelberg by J.J. Smit, the very first registered owner of the original parcel of land was J. Rupell. The current stately Cape Dutch-style residence on the corner of Fenter and Merz Streets was constructed in 1917, utilizing mostly imported building materials. While local legend frequently attributed the blueprint to the renowned imperial architect Sir Herbert Baker, historical timelines disprove this claim; Baker permanently departed South Africa for India in 1913, four years prior to construction.
The property is instead an exceptionally faithful "Herbert Baker copy." The structure originally featured traditional exterior window shutters that have since been removed. The original windows were also extracted during subsequent modernizations, though three of them were salvaged and repurposed inside the property's garage.
The estate previously extended all the way to the banks of the Blesbok River before being sub-divided by previous owners. Physical evidence of the home's construction was recovered during modern renovations, including original bricks embossed with "Vereeniging Brick and Tile" and "Newcastle." The presence of the Newcastle-embossed brick remains a local historical mystery, suggesting that heavy construction materials were manufactured in Newcastle, South Africa, and transported long distances to the Heidelberg site.
DR EDWARD JOHN NIXON AND WARTIME COMMAND (1858 - 1939)
Dr Edward John Nixon was born in Manchester, England, in 1858. He immigrated to South Africa and became a deeply loyal friend and medical colleague to Heidelberg's prominent Dr O’Reilly, eventually succeeding O’Reilly as the official District Surgeon upon the latter's retirement. The historic connection to his British birthplace remains permanently visible inside the house, where the fireplace is adorned with a carved "Fleur-de-Lis" emblem - the official insignia of the Manchester Regiment.
Following the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War, Dr Nixon joined the Imperial Light Horse as a medical officer. He served with gallantry at the Battle of Elandslaagte and throughout the grueling Siege of Ladysmith, receiving formal military decorations for his service.
It was during the Ladysmith campaign that Nixon crossed paths with Brevet Major John Maximilian Vallentin. When Vallentin was ordered to raise the counter-insurgency unit known as Vallentin’s Heidelberg Volunteers (the "Witkoppen"), Dr Nixon was commissioned as a lieutenant and appointed second-in-command of the corps. Following Major Vallentin's death in action at the Battle of Onverwacht, Dr Nixon assumed full command of the Heidelberg Volunteers on 4 January 1902.
Beyond his medical and military duties, Dr Nixon was a highly prominent Freemason. He was elected to the prestigious chair as Worshipful Master of the Heidelberg Lodge for the two critical years directly preceding the war (1898 - 1899), and returned to serve further terms as Master in 1907 - 1908 and 1914. He was also an active member of the exclusive Heidelberg Club.
Dr Nixon married Ellen Elizabeth Philipson. Tragically, in 1935, at the age of 64, Ellen passed away under bizarre circumstances while recuperating from a medical operation, having been accidentally smothered in her bed by her pet cat that routinely slept with her. She was interred in the Kloof Cemetery. Dr Nixon passed away four years later in 1939 at the age of 81 and was laid to rest directly beside his wife.
THE LINDEQUE AND ERASMUS ERA: FROM LAASTE SKOF TO OAK VIEW MANOR
The residential narrative transformed in the late 1930s when a young local girl named Loudina Delina "Lienie" Lindeque fell in love with the majestic gabled house while standing in the street outside. She vowed that she would one day own the property. Around the same period, Lienie fell in love with a resourceful school classmate, Jacobus Petrus "Koos" Erasmus, who was affectionately nicknamed "Koos Mechanic" by his peers for his uncanny ability to repair their unreliable school bus whenever it broke down.
The high school sweethearts married in their twenties. While Koos built a successful logistics enterprise named the International Transport Company, Lienie launched her own interior decorating business, "Loudina’s," and began investing in local heritage properties. In 1960, Lienie fulfilled her childhood promise, persuading her husband to purchase the dream home located at 66 Fenter Street.
Koos and Lienie raised their three children - Thinus, Peet, and Dina - on the estate. To accommodate aging grandparents, the family expanded the living spaces, converting the expansive ceiling loft into extra bedrooms and renovating an old outbuilding into a large cottage flat.
Lienie prophetically named the home "Laaste Skof" (Last Shift). She managed the household, hosted community gatherings, and decorated the interiors for decades, enduring the loss of her parents, her husband, and her grandson within its walls. Lienie resided at the property until her death in September 2018.
HERITAGE RECOGNITION AND MODERN HOSPITALITY
The historic estate remains under the care and ownership of the Erasmus descendants. In 2017, daughter Dina renamed the property Oak View Manor, drawing inspiration from the majestic, century-old oak tree anchoring the garden. The family sensitively repurposed the historic building to serve as their private home while simultaneously operating a boutique guesthouse, intimate functions venue, coffee shop, and house restaurant.
The heritage preservation project achieved formal recognition on 2 July 2021 when the Heidelberg Heritage Association officially awarded the property a Blue Heritage Plaque. Today, Oak View Manor is a highly rated hospitality establishment, earning a six-time Airbnb Superhost designation and winning a Booking.com Traveller Review Award with a customer rating of 9.8 out of 10.
The on-site hospitality and management team consists of Dina Devine (née Erasmus), Werna Strauss (operating Her Majesty’s Salon), and Gavin Crewe.
Guided historical viewing of the estate, business hours, and reservation inquiries can be coordinated by contacting Dina directly at 082 707 2334, or via the official Oak View Manor Heidelberg accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
