The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is the popular name given to an occasional venue for fêtes and theatrical and musical presentations on the slopes above Camps Bay, Cape Town.
The building
Founded in 1786, it was originally built against the slopes of Table Mountain as a guardhouse for the Dutch East India Company, to keep watch of enemy ships. From 1814 to 1827 it was occupied by the governer Lord Charles Somerset, who refurbished the building to be used as a hunting lodge. One of the more famous guests there was Dr James Barry[], who is said to haunt the place to this day.
The building went on to serve as a variety of purposes a popular tea room, dancehall, theatre venue, restaurant and boutique hotel at various times. It opened in its latest incarnation, as a fine dining establishment, in 2008.
Its use as a theatre venue
Sources
"The Roundhouse" on the Cape Town Paranormal Investigations website[1]
D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)
F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [2]: pp.
F.C.L. Bosman, 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.
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