{"id":144237,"date":"2017-02-14T06:20:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T04:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/144237\/castles-rich-history-remembered\/"},"modified":"2017-02-14T14:58:05","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T12:58:05","slug":"castles-rich-history-remembered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2017\/02\/14\/castles-rich-history-remembered\/","title":{"rendered":"Castle\u2019s rich history remembered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many people feel that their home is their castle; however, for Trevor Whiting and Elaine Basson this is really the case.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Trevor Whiting and Elaine Basson fell in love with the property\u2019s garden, before they even saw the house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The couple are the proud owners of the Castleview castle, having moved in four years ago on February 1, 2013.<\/p>

<\/div>\n

They first fell in love with the property when they drove past it to and from their home in Stone Arch Estate.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, while we were driving past, we looked at the rocky hill and said how amazing it would be to plant an indigenous garden there – let’s buy the place,\u201d Trevor explained.<\/p>

<\/div>\n

\u201cThere was no ‘for sale’ sign and we had never seen the house. We had literally only seen the bottom of the property, but we wanted to buy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elaine began researching the property and was able to find the then owners\u2019 information and they made contact.<\/p>\n

\u201cColleen Muller-Loesch called us back and asked what we wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, ‘there is no easy way to say it but we want to buy your property’ \u201d, Trevor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember we still hadn\u2019t actually seen the house,\u201d Elaine said.<\/p>\n

Discussions began and within two to three months the sale was finalised.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout the whole process Colleen kept speaking about the castle, and we still had no idea what she was talking about.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe then told us to take a good look at the house and explained it was the castle of Castleview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had no idea,\u201d said Trevor with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Previous owner Colleen Muller-Loesch was among the guests at the gathering last Saturday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The castle was built by Malcolm McLean, a coal merchant, in 1926.<\/p>\n

The turret was already in existence, as it was constructed to guard the railway line during the Anglo Boer War, so McLean built the house around the turret.<\/p>\n

Now completely in love with the castle and its garden, the couple started digging into the rich history of the castle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe first went to the library to try and find any history on the castle, and after a long search we found some newspaper clippings from the Germiston City News, but that is all we could find,\u201d explained Elaine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe then started looking for previous owners and were able to track down and invite four families to the castle, last Saturday\u201d, said Trevor.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it is such an old building having the ancestry of who lived in it would be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guests were encouraged to bring their old photos and memories of the property to the gathering so that everyone could share their history of the castle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aim to make a photo album filled with the history of the castle,\u201d explained Trevor.<\/p>\n

For a couple who never saw themselves owning an old house, Trevor and Elaine couldn\u2019t be more in love with their home and have ensured that the history of the castle will continue to live on.<\/p>\n

Other articles you may be interested in:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Glorious gardens of Germiston glow<\/a><\/p>\n

Plenty of support for parkrun<\/a><\/p>\n

\n