History Webs
For the Drakenstein Valley
Olive production
In the late 1800s De
Hoop was one of the first farms to grow olives commericially. This
photograph from the Gribble Collection shows Minnaar (far left) with
fellow farmers examinng an oil press in front of De Hoop's cellar.
References
Ons Drakensteinse Erfgrond: Suider Paarl by JG le Roux and WG le Roux, available at the Drakenstein Heemkring in Paarl.
Acknowledgements
* JA Clift (Pty) Ltd
* Harriet Clift for providing the additional
research.
Jean Cloudon
Jean Cloudon was a cobbler from Conde in Flanders and he arrived at the Cape in 1688 during the influx of French Huguenots. Little is known about him other than the fact that he arrived on the Oosterland, and that he was probably unmarried. Shortly after 1692 the farm was taken over by Jean le Roux of Blois.
Minnaars 1784-1959
Isaac/ Isak Minnaar (b.1762-1815) married Louisa Elizabeth de Villiers (1761-1826) and owned De Hoop from 1784-1815. After his death the farm was taken over by his son Johannes Phillipus Minnaar (1787-?) married to Susanna J Bosman (1792-?). In 1826 his brother Isak J Minnaar became the owner of De Hoop. The remained in the Minnaar family until 1959 when it was sold by the last remaining descendent of Isaac Minnaar.
De Hoop farm, Suider Paarl
Ravenscroft photograph, Cape
Town Archives.
The De Hoop farm was granted to the French Huguenot Jean Cloudon in 1692, and was one of four granted to Huguenots in the Paarl Valley. Cloudon on De Goede Hoop, Jean Taillefer on Labori, Isaac Taillefer on Picardi and Gabriel le Roux on La Concordia. The farms lay side by side, narrow parallel strips of land with a frontage on the Berg River.
De Goede Hoop exchanged hands several times until owner Isak Johannes Nel's widow sold the farm in 1782 to Johannes Matthias Bletterman. The following year Bletterman sub-divided the farm, and the portion below the "wagen weg" became known as Goede Hoop and during a later sub-division as Goedemoed.
In 1783 Bletterman sold the remaining portion to Hercules Viljoen who sold it the following year to Isaac Minnaar. This portion above the "wagen weg" became known as De Hoop. The H-shaped manor house's front gable was built in the neo-classical style and is dated 1809, and depicts the initials of Isaac minnaar and his wife Louise Elizabeth de Villiers.
De Hoop remained in the Minnaar family until 1959 when it was
bought by JA Clift (Pty) Ltd.