The Sammy Marks Museum is unique in that it's the only Victorian mansion in the country whose interior is preserved intact and wholly authentic. This is thanks largely to the foresight of Sammy Marks, who declared in his will that the house with its contents are to be preserved for four generations after the day he dies.
Now you will detect only faint lingering scents of furniture polish and old wood, but a century ago the air in the old house was heavy with the perfume of roses brought in from the garden, mingled with the smell of roasted beef drifting from the kitchen, and cigar smoke coming from the billiard room.
The high-ceilinged rooms may stand quiet now, but there was a time when the entire house was filled with activity. It was a grand Victorian household in every sense, run by a small group of servants and occupied by several children, Sammy and Bertha, his wife.
An very impressive home for a man whose origins were so humble. Born in Lithuania, the son of an tailor, Sammy Marks was blessed with integrity, courage, astonishing business acumen and the capacity for sheer hard work, all qualities that helped him rise, in the period of a few decades, from being a peddler of cheap jewellery to one of the old Transvaal Republic's leading industrialists. He departed for South Africa in 1868, aged 24.
Visiting Hours:
Tuesdays - Fridays: 9:00 - 16:00
Weekends: 10:00 - 16:00
