This is who we Are"
Before the times

This house was designed in 1905 by architects, Lack and Emley, for Henry Charles Hull, an attorney and, in 1910, Minister of Finance in the first Union Government. On the outbreak of war Hull left for Cape Town where he joined Brabant’s Horse, seeing action at the battle of Wepener. Hull followed the heels of the British army into Johannesburg and was appointed to the Military Tribunal, which replaced the Z.A.R. judiciary during the British occupation. He was not an Imperialist and allied himself with Botha and Smuts in the Transvaal Legislature.

.
Behind the Legacy

Emoyeni, the ‘Place in the Air’ in Zulu, perches dramatically on Parktown Ridge like an eagle’s eyrie; its red brick gentility in stark contrast to the tumbling cliffs and the spectacular view towards the Magaliesberg range – a blue smudge on the horizon. The grand staircase loggia on the south offers no clue of the spectacular vista that lies ahead.

The house was built in 1905 for Hon Henry Hull who was to become Minister of Finance in the first Union Government. In view of his involvement in the Johannesburg business world it is perhaps not surprising that he eschewed the fashionable Herbert Baker and turned instead to the architects Leck and Emley for a rather grander realisation. This well established practice was certainly the most eminent in local business circles. They had after all recently completed the Rand Club building as well as the impessive Corner House, at that time the tallest building in Johannesburg. But given Mr Hull’s financial predilections it was their recently completed Stock Exchange that he perhaps admired most.

Scroll to Top