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Cypress Tea Garden to the Burgundy Restaurant

Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Author: Jaydee Media
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old-cottage John Louis was obviously an enterprising young man and he acquired Lot 68. Here he built the first cottage in 1876 (on what is now Harbour Road) and then a second at right angles to it, facing the sea. The wild and rocky coastline of Hermanus probably reminded John Louis of his homeland but his sturdy cottages in Hermanus were built in the local tradition of stone and mud, lime plastered and whitewashed with thatched roofs.

hermanus1874 map map john

He could certainly never have foreseen that the two modest dwellings that he built on a rocky piece of land above the harbour, would not only still be there one hundred and twenty years later, but would become a famous tourist attraction and national monument.

Coena Haman of Cafe Royal was one of Louis’s grandchildren.
In 1902 a friend, Mr Overbeek presented Sweed with a small cypress tree and the six year old Coenie helped to plant the tree.

ceapress-tea-garden2

Ethel Rubery bought the cottage in 1928 and turned it into a restaurant. It was the same cypress tree that gave the name to the Cypress Tree Tea Garden.

TODAY:
burgundy4 The Burgundy Restaurant is situated at this historical site. Most people visiting The Burgundy, on the very edge of the bay and only a few metres away from Hermanus’s historic old harbour, always come back. Once you visit, which we hope you will do soon, you might well return because here you will be greeted by not only the warm smiles of our staff, but also, quite possibly, the smell of artisinal bread baking in the oven.