What we today know as the peaceful and picturesque village of Irene, in Centurion, has seen some dramatic events through the ages. Millions of years ago, our prehistoric ancestors roamed the area that is not too far from the "Cradle of Mankind". More recently we know that the Matabele warriors killed most of the Bakwena (or Crocodile People) that lived south of the Magaliesberg. That opened up the area for Boers like Erasmus to settle the land. He called his farm Doornkloof and in 1889, sold most of it to a businessman, called Alois Hugo Nellmapius.

 

Nellmapius named the farm after his daughter Irene, her name was pronounced 'eye-ree-nee' which in Greek means peace. The unusual pronunciation of Irene is still in use today. Unfortunately the name didn't bring peace. Bertie van der Byl bought the farm and he liked to plant trees. Some of these trees were still saplings when the Second Boer War broke out. One of the sad consequences of the war was that more than a thousand women and children perished in a concentration camp that was set up on his farm. Some of the big old trees still growing in Irene today, witnessed their grief as heartbroken mothers used small trees to decorate the fresh graves of their children.

 

Irene Primary school is one of the good things that grew from this tragedy. Some of the original buildings of the concentration camp can still be seen on the school grounds. When I first drove through Irene and saw the ivy-clad buildings set amongst the huge old trees, I decided that my (unborn) children should one day go to school here. That opportunity came many years later when in 1983 we could eventually afford to buy a neglected property on the corner of Queen and Alexandra Road. The weeds around the house were so high that our young children would disappear in it.

 

I worked as a pilot and my wife who used to be an air traffic controller, was now pulling out weeds and trying to control two busy toddlers. One of our first building achievements was to complete the partly built brick boundary wall. My wife insisted that the walls be plastered and painted white to match the Cape Dutch style of the house. This idea did not go down well with the establishment who preferred the traditional stone walls that can be found all over the village. The little bit that got done in the next 20 years, I did myself as we raised our two children and tried to pay off our debt.

 

Once the children were in high school, my wife went back to her passion of being an ATC and I started earning a little more money at SAA. From her lofty perch at Grand Central Airport, my wife started imagining her dream house. It took me a while to warm to the idea but after breaking out some bricks between the kitchen and the living room for a fire place, it slowly started growing into a full scale alteration of the house. Bay windows for the bedrooms, triple volume thatch roof over the family room and then a fairy tale castle tower! Standing on the top floor of the Tower we could look over Irene and enjoy the man-made forest that covers the village or watch the beautiful sunset.

 

Once more the older residents grumbled about a game lodge when the high thatched roof went up but the unusual fortress outraged them. We conceded to their objections and planted two cork trees that cover most of the tower sight to passers-by. I wanted an extra garage and a man cave above it. My mother was staying with us to help supervise the building project which planted the seed for a granny flat or pool house behind the garages. The building continued at a slow but steady pace and we could see our dreams taking shape around us.

 

In 2008, disaster struck. I got sick, lost my flying medical and when the doctor told me to get my affairs in order, we had to make some drastic changes. My wife was offered the opportunity to work in Hoedspruit and we used that to focus on my health. My son carried on with some of the work on the house. He completed the studio above the garage and moved in there with his girlfriend. They were both skydiving at the time and a fellow skydiver rented the main house. When my son left the country, my daughter took up the challenge to complete the cottage or pool house and has been managing the 3 living units as separate rentals since 2014.

 

It just became too difficult to finish the projects we envisaged. I regained my health and retired from SAA in 2017 at the regular retirement age and once my wife retired we moved down to the coast to be closer to our grandson. Every day I am thankful to be alive and am trying to simplify my life by selling this property that is now so far away from us. We bought a house close to my daughter and grandson and would like to spend more time with them. It was a difficult decision for my wife to sell her dream home but she made peace with it and we are going to enjoy our retirement at the coast.

 

Now Irene Tower is looking for a new owner, maybe someone with the same love for wood and stone. The property has good bones but lacks the finishing touches to transform it into a great home. With a small amount of effort, the property could also be changed into offices or consulting rooms. Irene Tower sits on the corner of Queen and Alexandra Road, a very prominent spot along Alexandra Road that is rapidly changing into a new business zone.

 

This beautiful property could be a prominent corporate location or an eclectic fantasy home for a young family offering the children an opportunity to attend Irene Primary School, play hockey on the Oval and enjoy bike rides through the leafy lanes.