Rhenish Hostel (now PJ Olivier Art Centre)

"Double storey building with moulded parapet, raised over entrance with ""Rhenish Institute"" in the plasterwork, corner pilasters and a moulded string course between floors. Upper floor has 6x6 sashes. Ground floor has 20x20 sashes with louvred internal shutters. 3-bay entrance with glazed double door with 15-pane fanlight flanked by 12x12 sashes,and with French doors upstairs, all varnished. Projecting porch over with fluted columns and cast iron balustrade. ""... at the back, downstairs, are some original [late-18th C] sashes. Some internal doors are also original. The H-shaped plan of the single storey house is still discernable as the nucleus of the present building. In one of the former side courts of the H there is now a barrel vault, a feature of several Stellenbosch houses. The screen and one of the two wall-cupboards in the central hall are new."" (Fransen & Cook, p. 137)Entrance has a cypress on each side; mature oaks along frontage."

"The land was first granted to Marthinus Byleveld in 1787 and an H-shaped house was built on it soon afterwards, facing away from the Braak. It was acquired by the Rhenish Church in 1862 and used as a school and hostel for girls. A second floor with a flat roof was added soon afterwards and the building later extended to both sides."

Restored 1968