We are so very sad that the 5th Show 'n Tell will be happening without the King Of Matjiesfontein. What a big privilege to have know him - a free spirited open hearted fun loving wonder
As a contribution I was planning to have a crown ceremony to David this year.. instead we will dedicate Show 'n Tell 2010 to him.
Here are few facts on mr Rawdon
"In the late 1960s, David Rawdon, a hotelier par excellence, whose claim to fame was the establishing of the well-known Lanzerac Hotel in Stellenbosch and the Marina Hotel in Hermanus, purchased Matjiesfontein Village.
After performing extensive renovations on the hotel, utilising the wealth of antiques gathered during his world travels, Mr. Rawdon re-opened the property in 1970 and renamed it The Lord Milner Hotel."
"His efforts resulted in the village being declared a National Monument in 1979."
Lanzerac Hotel: "The good looking and magnetic young David Rawdon could only have dreamt of the success that the Lanzerac Hotel was to enjoy when he opened the door to the public in August 1959. With the help of his mother, Marie Rawdon and hotelier brother, Graham, he’d bought the property for R36 000. He then spent a year of intense renovation and restructuring, turning fowl pens, stables, cow sheds and kraals into fetching bedrooms that for the next 30 odd years beckoned travelers from home and abroad. Rawdon was no modern millionaire hotel magnate - money was in scarce supply and with a small team of builders he designed and oversaw most of the work himself. He went from one auction and yard sale to the next in the neighboring countryside buying up neglected furniture and follies which freshened up into smart period pieces, many of which are still in residence at the hotel today."
Thank you so much for letting us play xxx
Sources:
photographs: James Seigel
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