What is a story about Belvidere Estate doing on a blog about Thesen Islands, you ask?
Well, if you are a newcomer to Knysna you can be forgiven for thinking that the development of Belvidere Estate was done by others. Gray has never seen the need to shine a light on his own achievements so this is a fitting way of setting the record straight, through the eyes of someone else, an early buyer on the Estate. This first appeared in the Belvidere Home Owners newsletter.
Gray Rutherford:
25 Years
First, a few historical facts to get
things into perspective. It is nearly
50 years since the botanist Dr A.V.
(Ave) Duthie, grand-daughter of Thomas Duthie, passed away in 1963. Plus it is nearly 40 years since the last
resident Duthie family members, Dr John and Jean Marr, gave up farming at
Belvidere in 1974. For those and other
bits we’ve taken from her book “A Vista and a Vision” in compiling this memo,
we are indebted to Patricia Storrar.
For thirteen years from 1974 to 1987 the
descendents of the original Belvidere Duthies and others attracted to
Belvidere, tried unsuccessfully to formulate a practicable plan, for
development compatible with the preservation of the special ambience of
Belvidere farm. During that period of
standstill on Belvidere farm, Tony Bowman of Field House in old Belvidere
Village, managed to get ESKOM power to the old village, via Knysna in
1982.
In 1985, his nephew, the innovative
designer Gray Rutherford acquired and restored Ferry House as a small Country
Inn. Gem Morton recalls spending
holidays there and getting to know Gray Rutherford at that early stage of
Gray’s inspired personal crusade, for the conservation of Belvidere’s heritage. Gray’s vision, of development of Belvidere
farm, as Belvidere Estate, always incorporated Tony Bowman’s ideal of
architectural harmony and large parkland areas.
It was Gray Rutherford whose single-minded
drive and enthusiasm alone saved Belvidere Estate. He did so by resisting all sorts of
commercial pressures and by insisting upon the sensitively-controlled, heritage
preservation style of development. It
was this that attracted us all, to this special place during the 25 years which
have elapsed since Gray started his crusade in earnest in 1987.
His vision appealed to all kindred spirits
with a feeling for this nook. 1987 was
the pivotal year for Belvidere Estate.
It was in that year, that Gray Rutherford convinced Carl Schepping of
BOE’s property company of the merits of his ideas. BOE then established a new company to which
Mike Meterlerkamp, leading the shareholders, including Duthie family members,
sold the farmland, we now know as Belvidere Estate.
Now, in 2012, we remember that 25 years
ago in 1987, Gray Rutherford as a churchwarden played a leading role in the
restoration of the old Belvidere Church.
Simultaneously, as a designer and motivator, he took the lead in
launching and guiding the development of Belvidere Estate, by financier BOE and
Civil Engineering Contractor Clifford Harris.
Having bought our stand during the first week of
public selling in December 1987, we were always acutely aware of our good
fortune to be able to see Gray Rutherford in action, thus bringing his vision
into reality for the benefit of the new community we had joined.
During the preparations in 1989 for building our
cottage, it was in early 1990 that we saw at first hand how hard Gray worked to
achieve a balance between so many conflicting interests, among the wide variety
of preferences, of individual owners and their freely chosen architects.
In an article we came across in TIME magazine around
the mid 90’s, Gray Rutherford’s realized dream of Belvidere Estate was hailed
by TIME as an internationally outstanding example of how heritage, conservation
and development should and could be reconciled.
25 years after he first welcomed us to Belvidere
Estate, we salute Gray Rutherford and thank him for delivering his vision. Long may his aesthetic values be respected.
Pixie and Mick Roberts
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