Iziko Koopmans-de Wet House

The Iziko Koopmans-de Wet House stands at 35 Strand Street in central Cape Town, South Africa. It is a town house of the 18th century, built in the 1700s and substantially altered in the 1790s, when a neo-classical facade was added in the style of the architect Louis Michel Thibault, with sculptural work by Anton Anreith. The house is named after Marie Koopmans-de Wet (1834-1906), a society hostess, political figure and philanthropist, who lived there from 1869 and entertained leading figures of Cape society. After her death the house passed to her family and then in 1914 was acquired and later became a museum. It opened to the public as a museum in 1914 and later became part of the Iziko Museums of South Africa. The interior is a rare surviving example of a wealthy Cape townhouse of the late 18th and early 19th century. The rooms are furnished with Cape Dutch furniture, Georgian pieces, porcelain, glass and silver, and include a drawing room, a dining room and a bedroom. Some pieces are Dutch, English and Asian imports, and there is a collection of paintings and prints. The courtyard behind the house and the kitchen areas show the domestic arrangements, which relied on enslaved and later servant labour, and the museum acknowledges this part of the house's history in its interpretation. The curatorial approach is that of a period house museum, relying on furnished rooms and decorative arts rather than text-heavy displays. The building has been preserved with its original staircases, floors and woodwork, and the museum has maintained the interiors and collection. It is small and quiet, and the visit is short. It sits close to Greenmarket Square, Long Street and the Slave Lodge, which makes it easy to fit into a walking route through the old city.