The New Laird of Matjiesfontein
There’s a new Rawdon in Matjiesfontein. After more than four decades of this tiny colonial resort town being owned and run by David Rawdon, the legendary South African hotelier who created the concept of what is new termed a ‘boutique hotel’, his nephew Jonathan Rawdon has taken the baton.
By Tony Jackman
Portrait by Tony Jackman
Additional photographs by Chris Marais
A Magical Place
David Rawdon died on Friday, August 13, having spent his final years in the village that he turned into a hotel.The legions of Matjiesfontein fans and regulars all want to know what will happen next – will the town’s eccentric character remain intact, or will new brooms sweep out the old and remove all that character with it?
Jonathan Rawdon is keen to put their minds at ease. “Matjiesfontein is a magical place wrapped in history, and David always said he loved it when people would say ‘I remember it 30 years ago and it is exactly the same’.
“His intention was that in the future things should remain as they are. So my plan is to ensure it runs smoothly and to ensure David’s vision continues.”
Young ‘Jon’ Rawdon is 40. That means he was born after Rawdon senior bought Matjiesfontein and started to create this peculiar piece of the country’s hospitality history.
“David started fixing up Matjiesfontein in 1968, and I was born in late 1969, and as a family – we lived in Johannesburg – we used to go down and see Uncle Dave during all our holidays. My earliest memory is of us kids staying in the Masonic Lodge, where families and children stayed, and the kids would all have dinner there. I remember one Christmas when each course was in a different location.”
“You were mesmerised by David”
He and his uncle were always close. “You were mesmerised by David; as a young kid you idolised him, we all did. He was the person you’d want to be when you grew up.”
These words, with hindsight, seem prophetic. “Later in life I worked closely with him. We (Jon and his family) came to Matjiesfontein for most of two years in 2004-2005. It was a great time when I really got to know Dave. He knew I was interested (in Matjiesfontein). He had made me a trustee maybe five years before that - he was worried about Matjiesfontein and what would happen to it when he passed away. I think he saw a bit of an opportunity in me.”
Jonathan is also keen to emphasise that he is not the sole ‘young Rawdon’ in the new vanguard. His brother Thomas, 42, and sister Sian, 37, are also closely involved, as is their father Benjamin, David’s younger brother. Jon’s American wife Judy is also a great admirer of Matjiesfontein and they and their children are discussing the complex matter of moving back to South Africa from their Bermuda base as soon as possible.
The Wandering Trader
“I don’t think we’d physically live in Matjiesfontein,” Jonathan says. “I think we’ll probably do what Dave himself did in the past, before he decided to call Matjiesfontein his home, which is that he’d go to Matjiesfontein for a night every week. Our young children (Zachary, nearly 3, and Joshua, 2), are a bit too small to be growing up in Matjiesfontein.”
Whereas David Rawdon was a hotelier through and through – he started as a smous (wandering trader) in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, then built the original Rawdon’s at Nottingham Road in the late 1950s – Jonathan is a corporate controller and considers his accountancy background his biggest strength as he faces a future of stepping into his uncle’s formidable shoes.
“I do like interacting with guests, buit I’ll be more behind the scenes, making sure the business is running properly,” Jonathan says.
The Old Charm Remains
There is a renovation underway at Matjiesfontein, and it is worth noting that this was put in place by David Rawdon in the months before he died.
“In the past couple of years we have spent quite a bit fixing up the exterior. We’ve spruced her up. My brother Tom and my dad have been looking at each and every room. We don’t want to change the look and feel of the rooms - we want to keep that old-world charm - but we wanted to see if there was anything that we could do to make guests more comfortable.”
To that end, new curtaining and carpeting are on their way. “But one thing David never wanted was TV in the rooms, and we’ll continue in that way,” Jon is quick to add. “People come to Matjiesfontein to soak up the history, and we want them to be able to do that with a little bit of comfort.”
Text and Main Image Copyright: Tony Jackman, 2010
Supporting Images Copyright: Chris Marais, 2010
Tony Jackman is a playwright and journalist who specialises in lifestyle and food writing. You can read his food writing at www.sliver.co.za - Tony Jackman's Sliver of Life.
He has written two full-length stage plays, the first of which, Bloody Britannia, is to be staged in Cape Town in winter 2011 followed by a mini tour to Grahamstown, Cradock, Port Elizabeth and Matjiesfontein. The play is a ghostly affair about South African writer and outspoken social commentator Olive Schreiner and her loathing of Cecil John Rhodes.
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