Joubert house

Visit Joubert House on Long Street to explore Montagu’s past. Built in 1853, it is the oldest surviving townhouse in the town, although farm dwellings in the surrounding area are older. Today, Joubert House operates as a house museum that shows how a mid-19th-century household functioned, from daily routines to domestic design.

The voorkamer features wide-planked wooden floors, period furniture and portraits of the Joubert family who lived here. Other rooms include a bedroom associated with a local ghost story, and a kitchen and pantry with reed ceilings and peach-stone floors laid using a traditional local method. These floors, set with beeswax, were softer underfoot for women who spent long hours working in the kitchen. Old tins, ceramic jars, riempie chairs, soap-making equipment and candle moulds provide insight into everyday life in the 1800s.

One of the highlights of the museum is its toy and doll collection. The handmade dolls, created by Montagu residents Carolyn and Jenny McSweeney, are dressed in historically accurate clothing, complete with correct underwear and leather shoes. The collection ranges from simple rag dolls to porcelain figures and is displayed in a dedicated doll room.

Joubert House stands on land that once formed part of the original Uitvlucht farm. It was built by Pieter Gideon Joubert for his father and later hosted President Paul Kruger, General Piet Joubert and SJ du Toit in 1880 while they were returning from England after an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the annexation of the Transvaal. In the dining room, the luncheon service used during that visit is still on display.

Severe flooding in 1981 left the house badly damaged and facing demolition. The Montagu Museum Board of Trustees purchased the ruin and led its restoration with strong community support. The house reopened in 1983 and had already been declared a National Monument in 1975.

Behind the house is an indigenous medicinal plant garden with more than 120 species used historically by the Khoikhoi, San and early settlers. 023 614 1774  See also South African Medicinal Plants

Friday mornings are milktart mornings from 10:00. Tea or coffee and freshly baked milktart

Nearby is the Tronkie, a small former holding cell. A single entrance fee also includes access to the Mission Church Museum, further along Long Street.

25 Long Street Montagu