The Flickr 房子 Image Generatr

Opulence
Oil on Canvas
24" x 30"
Completed in 2025
Inventory #6338.101.2025.04.038

© Matthew Felix Sun
www.matthewfelixsun.com

10 Queen Victoria Street, Stanford, was built before 1900. According to the local history leaflet—uOriginally a Victorian cottage, the shop (close to Longmarket Street) was added at a later stage – probably by Jan van Dyk in the early 1920s who ran butchery from the shop. The house also belonged to Kosie and Sophie Lourens. Kosie was a tailor, while Sophie and helped her sister, Hilda, who used the top part of the shop for drying everlastings [flowers] that were used in wreaths. These wreaths were sold all over the Cape (especially the Karoo) and Hilda imported her artificial flowers form Italy and Japan! (Both sisters, along with their elder sister, live next door...) Sophie later opened Stanford’s first restaurant, Môreson, in the shop." It is one of many fine examples of Cape Dutch revival architecture in the village.

Stanford (population 4,800), is 16 km east of Hermanus on the Klein River. It was founded in 1857 and named after its founder, Sir Robert Stanford, who owned the original farm and had a number of business interests in the area. Quoth WIkipedia, "Stanford, also a captain in the British army, was effectively exiled from the Cape after being ordered to supply the convict carrying ship, The Neptune, with provisions during the Convict crisis of 1849." Stanford is 146 km from Cape Town, across several mountain passes.

Built ca. 1920, according to the local history leaflet, 12 Queen Victoria Street “is one of the best examples of original Victorian architecture in Stanford. It was built by Jan Bosman for his bride and he used to run his business from the shop with the diagonal entrance. Jan Vermeulen, grandfather of Joey, Sophie and Hilda living in the house at present (with an average age of 90), then bought the house and used it just as a dwelling. When Oom Jan passed away, his body was placed in his coffin in the voorkamer and his friends came to pay their last respects, while the children used to peer through the window in awe of the proceedings inside. From the 1940s the shop section served as a municipal office, a grocer shop and later Volkskas Bank.” It is one of many fine examples of Cape Dutch revival architecture in the village.

Stanford (population 4,800), is 16 km east of Hermanus on the Klein River. It was founded in 1857 and named after its founder, Sir Robert Stanford, who owned the original farm and had a number of business interests in the area. Quoth WIkipedia, "Stanford, also a captain in the British army, was effectively exiled from the Cape after being ordered to supply the convict carrying ship, The Neptune, with provisions during the Convict crisis of 1849." Stanford is 146 km from Cape Town, across several mountain passes.

Shot on a baking hot January day, De Kleine Rivers Valley House is the original farmstead around which the Western Cape village of Stanford grew up. It claims to date to 1785, which would make it one of the oldest surviving buildings in southern Africa, although I'm not sure how much of it is quite that old.

Stanford (population 4,800), is 16 km east of Hermanus on the Klein River. It was founded in 1857 and named after its founder, Sir Robert Stanford, who owned the original farm and had a number of business interests in the area. Quoth WIkipedia, "Stanford, also a captain in the British army, was effectively exiled from the Cape after being ordered to supply the convict carrying ship, The Neptune, with provisions during the Convict crisis of 1849." Stanford is 146 km from Cape Town, across several mountain passes.

Shot on a baking hot January day, De Kleine Rivers Valley House is the original farmstead around which the Western Cape village of Stanford grew up. It claims to date to 1785, which would make it one of the oldest surviving buildings in southern Africa, although I'm not sure how much of it is quite that old.

Stanford (population 4,800), is 16 km east of Hermanus on the Klein River. It was founded in 1857 and named after its founder, Sir Robert Stanford, who owned the original farm and had a number of business interests in the area. Quoth WIkipedia, "Stanford, also a captain in the British army, was effectively exiled from the Cape after being ordered to supply the convict carrying ship, The Neptune, with provisions during the Convict crisis of 1849." Stanford is 146 km from Cape Town, across several mountain passes.

Shot on a baking hot January day, The Langhuis, now home to a furniture store was originally a 19th Century cowshed, converted into a home by Michael Walsh, a horticultural entrepreneur responsible for much of Stanford's early 20th Century propsperity, at some point soon after he bought land in the area in 1903. It is one of many handsome Cape Dutch Revival buildings in the village.

Stanford (population 4,800), is 16 km east of Hermanus on the Klein River. It was founded in 1857 and named after its founder, Sir Robert Stanford, who owned the original farm and had a number of business interests in the area. Quoth WIkipedia, "Stanford, also a captain in the British army, was effectively exiled from the Cape after being ordered to supply the convict carrying ship, The Neptune, with provisions during the Convict crisis of 1849." Stanford is 146 km from Cape Town, across several mountain passes.

My friend Jo relaxing by a log fire in the Rhino Retreat lodge in the Aberdares National Park. Why does one need a fire on the equator? Because one is 2.500 metres above sea level! (It was actually too hot for me - I had to sit on the veranda and watch a young bull elephant at a range of about 12 metres).

Pastoral scene in the equatorial highlands of Meru County, Kenya.

The Nasseef House is a stunning example of traditional Hijazi architecture, built in the mid-19th century around 1872 by Sheikh Omar Nasseef, a prominent merchant and member of a well-respected Jeddah family. This grand, multi-story residence was constructed using coral stone from the Red Sea and timber imported from East Africa, a hallmark of the region’s building style at the time. What makes it stand out is its sheer size—boasting over 106 rooms—and its intricate design, including beautifully carved wooden balconies and rawasheen (ornate latticework screens) that allowed for ventilation and privacy while keeping the interior cool.
The house wasn’t just a family home; it was a symbol of status and a hub of activity. It served as a gathering place for merchants, scholars, and even royalty. King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, is said to have stayed here in 1925 during his campaign to unify the kingdom, marking its historical significance. One of its most famous features is the massive neem tree that once grew through the center of the house, with its trunk piercing the floors—a natural marvel that became a local legend (though the tree is no longer standing today).
Over the years, Nasseef House fell into disrepair, but it was meticulously restored in the early 2000s by the Saudi government as part of efforts to preserve Al-Balad’s heritage. Today, it functions as a museum and cultural center, offering a glimpse into Jeddah’s past with exhibits on the city’s history, traditional furnishings, and artifacts.

Historic doorways and tiling in the plaza outside the Nasseef House in Jeddah's historic Al-Balad old city district. There are quite a few public displays of old artefacts here.

The streets in Al-Balad are quiet in the morning and even quieter in the middle of the day, only really coming to life at sunset.

櫻花步道,櫻花,農場,櫻花林,花卉,開花,盛開,春天,粉色花朵,自然,紅色,日式,台灣,三峽,熊空,熊空櫻花林,大熊櫻花林,室外,風景,特寫,景點,旅遊,旅行,觀光,地標,假期,度假,步道,小徑,草,綠色,房子,山,天空

櫻花樹,櫻花,農場,櫻花林,花卉,開花,盛開,春天,粉色花朵,自然,紅色,日式,台灣,三峽,熊空,熊空櫻花林,大熊櫻花林,室外,風景,特寫,景點,旅遊,旅行,觀光,地標,假期,度假,森林,草,綠色,山脈,天空,房子

Willeen's Art, Craft, and Restauarant at Kassiesbaai, overlooking the Indian Ocean just a few miles east of the southern tip of Africa.

Kassiesbaai is a little hamlet on the outskirts of the really quite small village of Arniston/Waenhuiskrans near Cape Auglhas. A little fishing village with a predominantly Cape Coloured population, Kassiesbaai gets its name from the packing crates or "kassies" in Afrikaans slang from the many shipwrecks on this stretch of coast which the early inhabitants used to build their houses. There are some lovely limewashed stone houses here too, and the hamlet is now a South African National Heritage site.

Sited on a bluff overlooking the ocean, the fish at Willeen's is simple, fresh, and tasty.

Into deep twilight in the Tankwa Karoo National Park. De Zyfer cottage, centre of shot is an interesting place to spend a few nights. No elecricity except for one solar powered fridge - but, oh, the silence and the stars!

The Dyckman House, built in 1785 in Inwood, Manhattan, New York City. It is the oldest remaining farmhouse in Manhattan.

A traditional home in Jiaju, in Danba County in Kham, Tibet (governed by Sichuan, China).

A traditional home in Jiaju, in Danba County in Kham, Tibet (governed by Sichuan, China).