Home on market for R39m

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MOSSEL BAY NEWS AND VIDEO - A Mossel Bay house is on the market for R39 million - the most ever asked for a home in the area.

The property used to be a bungalow and was built on a former rubbish dump, which was considered outside of the town in the 1930s.

PHOTO GALLERY: Whopping R39 million home

Hartenbos Property Group and Point Village Accommodation have signed a dual mandate with home owner, David Bengis, who lives overseas.

He told the Mossel Bay Advertiser his parents bought the house in what is now known as Point Village, in 1975.

"The area was a collection of broken down wooden structures, owned mostly by people from Oudtshoorn who came to the coast to escape the summer heat. It was regarded as a campsite and in the early years houses were put up at the beginning of the summer and torn down as the autumn approached." Bengis says that until the late 1990s the bungalows were still authentic, with many of the original families still enjoying them.

His parents were struck by the position of the house, on the corner, right on the sea. "They loved that the waves came pounding past the house instead of towards it, creating a feeling of being on a boat out at sea."

Bengis' parents bought the house from the owner, only known to the Advertiser as Mrs Van Niekerk. "She was initially not interested in selling her home. She was a widow of one of the 'feather millionaires' from Oudtshoorn and had owned the home since the late 1930s."

He says it is believed this home was the first built at the Point.

At the time, Bengis says the bungalow was in a bad shape. "There was only electricity in one bedroom and the lounge. Mrs Van Niekerk walked from room to room with a long cord attached to a light bulb. As her family expanded she added rooms, so by the time my parents purchased the house in 1975, it resembled a maze of interconnected rooms."

The house was rebuilt in 1981, again in 1999 and most recently in 2018.

It is more or less on the same footprint as the original house.

Bengis says the family has been privileged to have had the opportunity to experience the family holiday home over the past 50 years.

"It is for the same reason that Mrs Van Niekerk sold her special home to my parents, that I am selling it today. Her family no longer could join her in paradise. The time is right for another family to enjoy the wonders of the home."

Real estate practitioner, Bobby van Schalkwyk, says the main reason the house is on the market for R39 million is because of its unique setting.