Muizenberg's Rhodes Cottage Museum closes for repairs, launches new storytelling sessions

Rhodes Cottage Museum in Muizenberg is closed for most of June for electrical rewiring.

Still, the team is using the downtime to launch a new project: storytelling sessions designed to bring history to life, with a few unexpected twists.

Curator of both the Rhodes Cottage Museum and Het Posthuys, Tony Rozemeyer, said work at Rhodes Cottage started in early June and is expected to take about two weeks.

The museum’s usual winter schedule — closed Mondays to Wednesdays — remains in place until mid-August.

Once the rewiring is complete, upgrades will continue with the tea room and the adjacent Posthuys.

In the meantime, Mr Rozemeyer and his team are preparing to host their first storytelling sessions at both Rhodes Cottage and Het Posthuys, the two heritage sites under his care.

“We’re ready to begin within the next two weeks,” he said.

“All the stories are lined up. They’re what I call ‘factional’ -  based on fact, but with some creative interpretation.”

The storytelling sessions will feature mysterious and lesser-known tales from Cape history, along with ghost stories from across Africa and beyond.

Mr Rozemeyer said the aim is to attract a broad audience, including both adults and school-going learners.

Sessions will take place during the museum’s winter closure days, using some of the larger rooms at both heritage sites.

Het Posthuys, located along Muizenberg’s main road, is one of the oldest remaining buildings on the False Bay coastline.

Built by the Dutch East India Company in the late 1600s, it once served as a military outpost and lookout, offering views of the ocean and the Hottentots Holland Mountains.

The Muizenberg Heritage Society, which oversees both sites, has made several improvements to Het Posthuys in recent months. Mr Rozemeyer describes it as “a place to visit” in its own right, not just a supporting act to the more well-known Rhodes Cottage.

“Its thick walls, thatched roof, and open-plan veranda guarded by three cannons may not seem like much at first,” he said, “but the atmosphere shifts the moment you step inside.”

Visitors enter through a single front stable door into the voorkamer — a small front room designed in 17th-century Dutch Colonial style.

From there, two rooms lead off: one is a recreated 1795 war room with a diorama and cannonballs marking the Battle of Muizenberg, and the other houses displays on the Khoi, Jan van Riebeeck, and the Dutch East India Company. Historic photographs of old Muizenberg line the walls.

Het Posthuys is currently open from 10am to 2pm on Fridays and Saturdays. If visitor numbers increase, Mr Rozemeyer says they may consider adding Sundays to the winter schedule.

Entry to both sites is free, although donations are welcome.

Longer term, the heritage society hopes to create an outdoor amphitheatre on the grassy hill behind Het Posthuys.

“Any input or help with that would be most welcome,” Mr Rozemeyer said.