Pretoria - So it’s a lazy Sunday afternoon and you really need to get out of the house, maybe even the city, but Hartbeespoortdam is too far and you were at the Botanical Gardens last weekend.
Of course, you remember, there is Sammy Marks Museum. Victorian tea and scones, a picnic, a croquet lawn and best of all, a ghost.
A day out, visiting this Victorian mansion and the luscious lawns surrounding it, is as good as a holiday.
Although it lies but a stone’s throw from Johannesburg, towards the east of Pretoria, it is surrounded by countryside. You can have a lovely meal or simply tea and scones, while the children freely run around the magnificent rose garden.
They can even have a fun history lesson, by visiting the inside of the mansion where Paul Kruger was a regular guest.
And those who believe in the paranormal may even get a glimpse of “the Scottish man”, whom many have claimed greets some of the visitors to the mansion.
The Scott was a friend of Sammy Marks and his family in the 1800s.
He died in one of the rooms in the house and it is said that on occasion he teases female visitors.
Marks was one of the country’s first industrialists who was determined to make a life for himself and his family here.
He arrived in South Africa with only a set of silver knives, his only valuable possession. He soon made his millions in mining, agriculture and as an industrialist.
Marks was born in Lithuania, the son of a tailor and he came to South Africa in 1868 when he was 24.
He personally supervised the building of the mansion, known as Zwartkoppies Hill, and the building material were transported from Durban by ox-wagon.
He even got an Italian artist to paint the walls of his mansion “to look like satin”.
He and his wife Bertha moved into the 48-roomed house in 1885.
They lived there with their nine children until 1909, when it became a weekend retreat.
The rooms are filled with priceless antiques, porcelain and paintings.
The billiard room, where Marks and his rich friends used to retire to for brandy and cigars after dinner, has copper spittoons and billiard balls made of ivory.
The paintings in the billiard room were done on silk and pasted on the ceiling.
The study features priceless books and maps. But it is the kitchen which any modern woman would envy - with its large light-filled interior, heavy stoves and brass pots and pans.
The splendour of the dining room will leave you breathless. No one can afford to entertain on this scale any more.
The crockery features Bertha and Sammy’s monograms.
The house is intact, exactly as it was, as decreed by Marks in his will. He declared that the house, with its contents, be preserved for four generations after he died. Zwartkoppies was declared a national monument in 1989.
Visitors can take a tour of the estate and the mansion, where all the rooms have been preserved exactly as they were when the family left.
A visit to Sammy Marks Museum is a breakaway experience not to be missed.
Visitor information
Tours through the Victorian house are conducted from Tuesday to Sunday.
Visitors can also play croquet or simply walk through the garden.
Educational programmes consist of a house tour with the teacherâ??s choice of an outdoor activity, including a game of croquet, treasure hunt and birding, from Tuesday to Friday.
A tour of the house costs R45 for adults, R25 for pensioners and students and R15 for schoolchildren.
A game of croquet costs R20 per hour.
Sammy Marks Museum also presents bird walks, guided by a professional early in the morning, followed by a farm breakfast. Marks’s birthday is also celebrated every July.
Those who merely want to relax under the shady trees can enjoy the freshly made meals in the splendour of the garden.
If you want to make a truly memorable occasion of your visit, the museum offers a picnic in the garden with freshly roast chicken, potato salad, French baquette and salami. Cheese and fruit form part of the basket. Extra Greek salad can also be ordered. Guests can, as part of the basket, enjoy fruit juice, lemonade or a bottle of wine. The basket, at R220 for two or R345 for four, includes cutlery, rugs and cushions. Wicker tables and chairs can also be organised.
For the more adventurous, the museum offers ghost evenings, with dinner in the kitchen. Guests start off with a glass of sherry, followed by a guided tour of the mansion. They can then sit down to a five-course dinner in the kitchen. Wine is also served and the evening is concluded by a glass of port and coffee at R480 per person for a maximum of 14 people.
The setting is also ideal for weddings and baptisms. An art deco chapel on the estate can host about 80 guests.
Hours: 9am-5pm, including weekends and public holidays. Closed on Good Friday and Christmas Day
Call 0127559542; e-mail marks@ditsong.org.za; restaurant at 0128021485.
Address: Old Bronkhorstspruit Rd, Donkerhoek.
Zelda Venter, Pretoria News