PIONIER MUSEUM The Farmyard

The house
Architecture	Pioneer House is an excellent example of the architecture of the time. The original house consisted of a kitchen, sitting-room and two bedrooms. Together they formed a T-shape. Another bedroom was later added on to the western side of the house.
	The chimney is the most striking natural, simple piece of pioneer architecture. David Botha built the house from a mixture of raw earth and anthills, which formed a type of clay. Bricks were not available. Two planks were therefore placed parallel on the ground to form a low box-structure, the clay mixture was pressed into the box and it was left to dry for a few days. Once dry, the structure was re-used for the next round of `bricks', and so on until the wall reached the required height. This method resulted in the sagging of the lower part of the walls, thus the walls of pioneer dwellings are always thicker lower down. The floor was covered with a mixture of anthills and cow dung, and smoothed over where necessary.
	Trees were very scarce. As a result, the beams in the house are thin. Poplars were mostly used because of the shortage of indigenous trees. Yellow-wood was later used by Hans Mundt to restore the sitting-room and two bedrooms. The extra bedroom that he had built on had blue-gum beams. White pearwood - a very hardy wood - was used for window and door frames as well as for an outdoor step.
The kitchen	In the kitchen a unique fireplace is to be found. The opening is so low down that the cook had to kneel to put on boiling water. It was built like this because of the low walls of the house. The beams were tied with thongs made of leather. Thick walls, raw beams, low doors and walls, earthen and dung floors - all bear witness to the settler's ingenuity, sturdiness and simplicity. The pioneer depended on Mother Earth to supply him with everything.
Furniture	The furniture testifies to progress. Hawkers came up from the Cape and other parts of the country with their wares and introduced articles such as porcelain, cast-iron pots and pans, and yellowwood tables.
The farmyard
Hans Mundt had two gardeners brought from Germany to lay out his gardens, orchards and farmlands. The willow trees and vineyard were planted by the German gardeners. Coffee beans were also planted on a small scale. Three kilometers south of the house, a furrow led from the spring to the duck pond. A second one extended towards the garden and orchard. A well was dug for household use. Other features are listed below.
Oven	The baking oven was restored after the original oven (built in 1848) had disintegra+B4ted completely.
Mulberry tree	Close to the backdoor there is a huge wild mulberry tree, under which the family sat talking, rested and took their meals.
Herb garden	The herb garden was of great importance because of the medicinal value of the herbs. Herbs were also used to flavour and colour all foodstuffs, cakes and meat. This garden was close to the house.
Vegetable garden	The vegetable garden must not be missed. Besides the daily use made of vegetables in the home, a certain portion of the crop was also sent to the Pretoria market to be sold.
Orchard	The quince avenue still exists. The orchard was also of great importance.
Cemetry	North of the house there is the Mundt cemetery, as well as a few unnamed heaps of earth and stones - graves of the past.
Poultry coop	Mundt had new and different methods of farming. For instance, he built outbuildings for his poultry.
Halfway station	George Heys started a mail coach-service in 1879 and Mundt immediately tendered for the provision of fresh horses for the service. As a result, Mundt had to erect extra stables, coach-houses and outbuildings for ox wagons. He ended up adding an inn for weary travellers to stay overnight.
Norseman's Mill	The old watermills known as the Norseman's Mill, is still used to grind the wheat, so that fresh bread can be baked every day, now as in the past.