Sunday, 20 September 2015

Feather Palaces from a bygone era

The famous Ostrich Feather palaces got their names from a time long gone by.  In the early 1900's farmers made their wealth through the sale of ostrich feathers into Europe.  They were known as feather barons.  These beautifully built houses were then called Feather Palaces.  There are few that remain today The Welgeluk Feather Palace, which means good luck, is situated at Safari Ostrich Show Farm.   Some interesting facts are; the tiles on the roof are from Belgium, windows are poured glass from Holland.  The house has 18 rooms and a bath that can take 1500lt of water and sit 5 people. It was built in 1910 and is a national monument.  Come visit Safari Ostrich Show Farm or get more info at
www.safariostrich.co.za

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2 comments:

  1. Unknown20 September 2015 at 06:49

    I had the pleasure of visiting one of these houses, in Robertson. Understood that at the peak one feather sold for 5 pounds, same as a ticket to England

    Rune

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown22 September 2015 at 02:21

      Hi Rune,
      It was said that at the time the 4 top sources of revenue for South Africa were diamonds, gold, wool and ostrich feathers

      Delete

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