I'm going to continue Deborah's tale of what they did at Rickety Bridge because it shows the care she and Robin took to restore the old house -  We discovered the lintel of an old high door going into the courtyard from the room behind the voorkamer (front reception room) so we reinstated that and the bakeoven, and having discovered the original lintels in the front windows, we put those back to their original size, gave them wide reveals to let in more light, and reglazed them with old glass which made a huge difference.

We had the wall cupboard taken out and carefully restored before lovingly putting it back safely in its place. The kitchen and laundry rooms were rebuilt as plumbing etc had to be rethought, and the gable was restored to its proper proportions.

All the woodwork which we had to replace or put in new was done with indigenous  wood, as the Baltic pine which would have been used was not obtainable. We had all the door furniture carefully made as it would have been for the period.

We think that originally there must have been a screen going across the voorkamer at the front door end, but could find no trace of it. Many of them were removed and sold over the years, and sadly we thought that one must be lost entirely.

 Upstairs we had to compromise, as Cape Dutch houses would not have had bathrooms. (I had a gentle battle with Rowan Pape, our excellent architect who suggested marble for the bathrooms and when I said "no hotel bathrooms in this house" he kindly agreed to try the Johnstons white tiles laid diamond shape I asked for.  (I hope they are still there at Rickety Bridge, echoing the lines of the thatch.) (They are, or were in 2005)

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