Inside Cape Dutch Quarters
Jayson and Marcel Augustyn-Clark are both enthusiastic collectors and curators of all things beautiful. Their aesthetic passions extend from yellow wood antiques and Victorian oil paintings, to Pierneef woodcuts, Tretchicof prints and even ‘kitch’ 1950s salt and pepper sets. While Jayson’s aesthetic is a ‘living museum’, Marcel’s gives it a ‘contemporary twist’.
Our Owners & Their Passions
Jayson is a pasionate gardener, while Marcel’s business is flowers and creating beauty everywhere. Ever a host, Marcel has an eye for detail and enjoys presenting guests on arrival with ‘Tussy Mussies’ a ‘posy of colourful flowers and fragrant herbs’ from our garden.
The Quarters are steeped in history and best appreciated after a chat with our passionate and hands-on owner who wears many hats in our village. Jayson lives his passion for Tulbagh and its history by sitting on the Museum Board of Trustees, the Tulbagh Valley Heritage Foundation and the Dream Tulbagh Organisation. In 2017 Jayson completed a UCT Master’s degree in architectural conservation, his thesis is titled “Between Memory and History – The Restoration of Tulbagh as Cultural Signifier”.
Instead of a doorbell at reception, we ‘employ’ Fairfax and Horatio (well behaved Maltese-cross dogs) who despite doubling as our company mascots, spend most of their time sleeping on their ‘thrones’. Our famous country breakfast is a treat, and featured in the New York Times as “a must”. Served on antique Spode crockery and silver King’s plate cutlery, Guests sit communally at a large yellow wood family table, a great space to meet interesting people from all over the world.
History Of CDQ
Tulbagh Country Guest House at 24 Church Street was established in 2000 by Ginny Clark, the current owner’s late mother. The original T – shape house with its neo-classical gable was built in 1810 by Petrus Francois Theron and extended into its current H – shape before 1861.
After the earthquake, this house was destined for demolition; however Boland Bank (who owned the building at the time as the home of their local bank manager) elected to pay for the bulk of its restoration, the cost of which exceeded that of any other in the street. Cape Dutch Quarters was established in 2005 by Ginny and Jayson Clark, a mother and son team who had acquired several neighboring Church Street houses and garden properties with the aim of extending their original guest house business.
Our ‘welcoming’ 1666 bronze cannons are emblazoned with the VOC (Dutch East India Company) logo and along with a wealth of cargo, many other cannons and mortars salvaged from the 1747 wreck of the Rygersdal by Brian Clark (the owner’s late father) in 1980.
The Environment
Bordering the Klip River, a local reserve parkland and rural farmland, the Quarters attract a variety of bird life from indigenous humming birds and owls, to guinea fowl and fabulous feral peacocks.
Most Cape Dutch Quarter properties are located in the middle of Historic Church Street. The street is 800m long open air museum featuring 30 ‘National Monuments’, four museums, restaurants, shops, galleries and gardens.
The Victorian’s old English oak tree has a circumference of 3.5 meters and is suspected to have been planted in 1880. We strive to minimize our carbon footprint with solar water heating, waste recycling, garden grey water irrigation and LED lightbulbs.
Supporting the Tulbagh home/farm industry, we locally source our free-range eggs and garden grown vegetables, dried fruit and organic preserves and even our handcrafted ‘Fynbos” amenities. Tulbagh has very good quality tap water and is definitely safe to drink.
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