Houghton Estate, Gauteng

Houghton Estate is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Part of it is located in Region 3, the other part in Region 4 Dubious|date=March 2008.

Houghton was developed as a residential area around the turn of the 20th Century, primarily by Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company (JCI) (Musiker and Musiker 2000:137).

Historically a wealthy area it contains many large homes and properties as well as a few blocks of flats (apartment buildings). Houghton is architecturally varied. There are good examples of Art Deco buildings (particularly some of the flats), and many of the large houses in the 1930s were good examples of the Modern style inspired by the work of Le Corbusier (Chipkin 1993).

The most famous resident of Houghton Estate is Nelson Mandela.

Despite its rapid development, the land value and house prices remain strong [http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/Property/Article.aspx?id=297396] , [http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3275528] . In 2001, the average house price was R1.2m; in 2006 it was R3.7m.The suburb is currently experiencing rapid redevelopment. This redevelopment, sanctioned by the City of Johannesburg's [http://www.joburg-archive.co.za/2003/budget/idp/annex43.pdf Regional Spatial Development Framework] . The City sees many positive aspects to the redevelopment, but it is not uncontroversial and has resulted in the destruction of many traditional houses.

Houghton has two golf courses (Houghton and Killarney) and a large public park, The Wilds [http://www.wildswalk.co.za] . There are three major schools: King Edward VII School (a public school for boys), St John's College (a private, Anglican school historically only for boys) and Houghton Primary School (a public school).

References

* C. Chipkin. "Johannesburg Style: Architecture & Society 1880s-1960s". David Philip. ISBN 0-86486-221-0.
* N. Musiker and R. Musiker. (2000) "A Concise Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg". Francolin Reference. ISBN 1-86859-071-2.
* Chantelle Benjamin. "Sun sets on areas with low rates." The Weekender, 3-4 November 2007, p3.

External links

* [http://www.parktownheritage.co.za Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Society]
* [http://www.upperhoughton.org.za The Upper Houghton Association]
* [http://www.wildswalk.co.za The Wilds]
* [http://www.stjohnscollege.co.za St John's College]