104) Uvongo Road, Waterfall
Even before we were settled into our house in Hullett Street the money from my Mom had arrived and we could once again start looking for a house to buy. It was a wonderful gift and we were (and still are) so grateful to her for her generosity. We got in touch with Margaret Crawford again and she started showing us all sorts of houses. We had a wonderful time looking at houses in a wide circle around Hillcrest village. We looked at a house out at Drummond that was on her company’s books but Margaret had not actually seen it herself. We drove up to the house and got out at the gate, the whole property was unkempt and overgrown but the view across the valley was breath taking. We knocked on the front door; Margaret had made arrangements to view the house. I think the people who were at home must have been tenants as no attempt had been made to tidy up and make the house look a little attractive. There were three or four adults and a couple of kids in the lounge. None of them took much notice of us as we walked through the rooms. In the kitchen there was the remains of their last meal and every meal for the previous week by the look of it. Dirty dishes were piled high in the sink, there were empty tins and bottles all over the place and the rubbish bin was overflowing in the corner. I did not look at Margaret, as I was sure I would laugh if I did, we walked through the house and the occupants just sat talking and ignoring us. We went into the main bedroom, where the bed was unmade and there were dirty clothes all over the floor. At the window hung an old torn curtain. It was far too small for the window, was held up with a piece of string and only covered the top half of the window. I caught Margaret’s eye and we both wanted to laugh and still the occupants went on chatting. Margaret and I were trying to keep it quiet out of politeness. (I am not sure why, they obviously did not care what we thought of their living conditions). I was only the client so I did not have to face them, I made a beeline for the door and went and waited by the car. But poor Margaret had to go into the lounge say thank you for letting us view the house and that she would be in touch if I was interested in buying. By the time she got to the car she was almost busting with laughter. We could not believe the casual way they were all sat there in the mess not turning a hair as we looked around. We laughed about it for the rest of the afternoon.
We looked at one house in a part of Hillcrest called West Riding. I don’t remember the price but I remember that it was very reasonable. It was a well maintained, three bed roomed, two-bathroom house and we were interested but Margaret told us why it was going so cheap. The house had a six-foot wall all the way around it but above the wall one could see the roof of the school that was just behind it. The African township bordered West Riding and to the left of the house there was a footpath from the African area. The people who owned the house had had untold problems with people who were using the footpath. Before the wall had been built they had thrown stones through the windows of the house and that was why the wall had been erected. We did not know how the trouble had started but it had developed into a very ugly fight. Unfortunately the wall had not solved the problem and although we felt very sorry for the owners we were very grateful to Margaret for telling us about it. Not long after we read in the local paper that there was a fire in that house. The police said that the fire had been caused by a petrol bomb that had been thrown through the window, we were very glad we had not bought it.
We looked at new houses and old houses, even a house that was only half built. We looked at a house that needed a new roof and some that needed a lot of tender loving care and some that did not even need a little touch up, but nothing that excited me. Margaret just kept saying “Don’t worry you’ll know it when you see it” There were many estate agents in the area and we were taken to see houses by other people but Margaret was our favourite agent and she was the one who worked the hardest for us. One morning she telephoned me to say that she had a couple of houses that had just been put on the market for me to view and could we look at them that afternoon. I told her that I already had an appointment to view a house in Pinetown with another agent but I would meet her an hour before that meeting and look at what she had to offer. Jonny was busy that afternoon so he told Dominic and I just to carry on without him. We met Margaret and she took us to the first house on her list. I had the feeling that she was excited with what she had to show me and wondered why. The first house was terrible. It was in a horrid position; it had a long steep drive down to the house and not a lot of room to manoeuvre the car into the garage. Also it would have needed all the carpets to be replaced. It smelt as if someone had locked a cat in there for a week or two and not let it go outside at all. Then we went to the second house, 3 Uvongo Rd, Waterfall. Margaret parked the car outside the house and as we got out another agent with a prospective buyer pulled up and parked a bit further on. As we had got there first it was etiquette that we should view the house first. As we walked through the gates, before we had even gone into the house I understood why Margaret was excited. I just loved the house, it was so right for me. It had three bedrooms, an open plan kitchen dining room and lounge and a bathroom with a separate toilet. There was a double garage with a good sized laundry attached to it. The garden was neat and tidy and the whole place just had a glow about it. When we had seen right through the house Margaret said “I’ve got a confession to make, this is a timber framed house” I was very disappointed as Jonny was so dead set against a timber frame house but I knew that his objections were to do with shoddy workmanship and this house looked well built to me. I told Margaret that I wanted the house, but of course I would have to discuss it with Jonny first. I had to go and meet the other agent and view the house she want to show me but I was not really interested in it, I wanted 3 Uvongo Rd. As soon as Dominic and I could politely get away we rushed home to see Jonny and tell him about the house. He said that if I liked it that was all that mattered and that we should buy it. I rang Margaret straight away and told her that we wanted the house. She told me that the other couple that we had seen arriving at the house when we got there also wanted the house but it was a case of first come first served and I had told her that I wanted the house while we were still viewing it. Once I had spoken to Margaret I began to worry that Jonny would not like the house and so I persuaded him to come and have a look at it before we signed the papers the following day. Jonny saw it at night, which was a disadvantage but he liked it too and was impressed at the workmanship of the building. I remember that he was impressed with the sharp straight lines of the corners of the walls. This was obtainable in a timber frame house in a way that was not so in a conventional brick house so he was happy with it too. The house had been built by a builder by the name of Cooper, who had built many timber-framed houses in the Waterfall area. He was obviously very good at it and we came to love our timber frame house. We found that it was very well insulated, warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The young couple who owned the house were David and Jane Brown, they lent us the negatives of photos they had taken during the construction of the house and we had some prints made. They were very interesting, as we were not used to seeing a house built like that.
We looked at one house in a part of Hillcrest called West Riding. I don’t remember the price but I remember that it was very reasonable. It was a well maintained, three bed roomed, two-bathroom house and we were interested but Margaret told us why it was going so cheap. The house had a six-foot wall all the way around it but above the wall one could see the roof of the school that was just behind it. The African township bordered West Riding and to the left of the house there was a footpath from the African area. The people who owned the house had had untold problems with people who were using the footpath. Before the wall had been built they had thrown stones through the windows of the house and that was why the wall had been erected. We did not know how the trouble had started but it had developed into a very ugly fight. Unfortunately the wall had not solved the problem and although we felt very sorry for the owners we were very grateful to Margaret for telling us about it. Not long after we read in the local paper that there was a fire in that house. The police said that the fire had been caused by a petrol bomb that had been thrown through the window, we were very glad we had not bought it.
We looked at new houses and old houses, even a house that was only half built. We looked at a house that needed a new roof and some that needed a lot of tender loving care and some that did not even need a little touch up, but nothing that excited me. Margaret just kept saying “Don’t worry you’ll know it when you see it” There were many estate agents in the area and we were taken to see houses by other people but Margaret was our favourite agent and she was the one who worked the hardest for us. One morning she telephoned me to say that she had a couple of houses that had just been put on the market for me to view and could we look at them that afternoon. I told her that I already had an appointment to view a house in Pinetown with another agent but I would meet her an hour before that meeting and look at what she had to offer. Jonny was busy that afternoon so he told Dominic and I just to carry on without him. We met Margaret and she took us to the first house on her list. I had the feeling that she was excited with what she had to show me and wondered why. The first house was terrible. It was in a horrid position; it had a long steep drive down to the house and not a lot of room to manoeuvre the car into the garage. Also it would have needed all the carpets to be replaced. It smelt as if someone had locked a cat in there for a week or two and not let it go outside at all. Then we went to the second house, 3 Uvongo Rd, Waterfall. Margaret parked the car outside the house and as we got out another agent with a prospective buyer pulled up and parked a bit further on. As we had got there first it was etiquette that we should view the house first. As we walked through the gates, before we had even gone into the house I understood why Margaret was excited. I just loved the house, it was so right for me. It had three bedrooms, an open plan kitchen dining room and lounge and a bathroom with a separate toilet. There was a double garage with a good sized laundry attached to it. The garden was neat and tidy and the whole place just had a glow about it. When we had seen right through the house Margaret said “I’ve got a confession to make, this is a timber framed house” I was very disappointed as Jonny was so dead set against a timber frame house but I knew that his objections were to do with shoddy workmanship and this house looked well built to me. I told Margaret that I wanted the house, but of course I would have to discuss it with Jonny first. I had to go and meet the other agent and view the house she want to show me but I was not really interested in it, I wanted 3 Uvongo Rd. As soon as Dominic and I could politely get away we rushed home to see Jonny and tell him about the house. He said that if I liked it that was all that mattered and that we should buy it. I rang Margaret straight away and told her that we wanted the house. She told me that the other couple that we had seen arriving at the house when we got there also wanted the house but it was a case of first come first served and I had told her that I wanted the house while we were still viewing it. Once I had spoken to Margaret I began to worry that Jonny would not like the house and so I persuaded him to come and have a look at it before we signed the papers the following day. Jonny saw it at night, which was a disadvantage but he liked it too and was impressed at the workmanship of the building. I remember that he was impressed with the sharp straight lines of the corners of the walls. This was obtainable in a timber frame house in a way that was not so in a conventional brick house so he was happy with it too. The house had been built by a builder by the name of Cooper, who had built many timber-framed houses in the Waterfall area. He was obviously very good at it and we came to love our timber frame house. We found that it was very well insulated, warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The young couple who owned the house were David and Jane Brown, they lent us the negatives of photos they had taken during the construction of the house and we had some prints made. They were very interesting, as we were not used to seeing a house built like that.
Uvongo Road during the construction
When we went to look at the house that second time we talked to the owner about why she was selling the house. She told us that her husband worked for a firm called ‘John Thompson Boilers’ and that they had transferred her husband to Cape Town and so they were moving down there and although she was not too keen to leave Durban, the job was a promotion so they felt they had to take it. Jonny was talking to her about the Petrogen cutting system that he was selling and asked if she thought that John Thompson might be interesting in buying from him. She gave us the name of the gentleman to see there and told us to call on him and tell him that she had given us his name. The next day Jonny and Dominic called on him and during the course of the conversation they discovered that he had two nieces in Witbank. They were young girls that Dominic knew and it also turned out that John Thompson were also looking for a technician and he told Dominic to apply for the job. John Thompson did buy a Petrogen system from us and Dominic did get the job so it had been a very worthwhile call.
David Brown had already left Durban to take up his new position in Cape Town but we told Jane we weren’t in a huge hurry to move in so she could take her time packing up. She said she would like to stay for a few more months but as David was urging her to hurry up and join him she would leave as soon as she could and we were given an occupancy date of 6th June 1991 which was only about a month from the date of sale.
David Brown had already left Durban to take up his new position in Cape Town but we told Jane we weren’t in a huge hurry to move in so she could take her time packing up. She said she would like to stay for a few more months but as David was urging her to hurry up and join him she would leave as soon as she could and we were given an occupancy date of 6th June 1991 which was only about a month from the date of sale.
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