Urquhart House Museum

About Urquhart House Museum

You will find this beautiful Cape Dutch house on the southern end of Market Square, although the exact date on which it was built is unknown. Historians guess at somewhere between 1806 and 1821 based on its neo-classical front gable and other architectural elements of this period.

Although the way the house looks today is significantly different due to the modernisation by one of its later owners, a businessman with the rather long name of David Sebastian Martin Casper Carel Schultz. He owned the house towards the end of the nineteenth century, during which time he clipped the gables, removed the thatched roof and added a timber veranda.

When he died the rather large erf on which the house rested was subdivided. It was bought by Herberg Urquhart, the longest serving mayor of Graaff-Reinet, who then sold the property to the municipality in 1964.

Why a visit to this house is well worth it: a peach pip kitchen floor, a ‘gadget’-rich kitchen, and fine pieces of Victorian period furniture. It also houses the area’s genealogical records.

Visit: Mon - Thurs 8am - 4pm (but closed for lunch); Closed two Saturdays a month. The house is easily accessible through the grounds of Reinet House, and although smaller, is rated as one of the top houses to visit.

You can request a guided tour ahead of time, which is well worth it if you want a first-hand account of the house’s history. The library is available for historical or genealogical research.

Tip: a combined ticket for the five museums in Graaff-Reinet will save you money.