This one I found in Ramotswa sometime in the early 1970s. I cannot believe that it still exists, at least in recognizable form. I have puzzled over this building trying to pin down the nature of its appeal and had to conclude that it must be the black of the very bold window surrounds against the white of the walls. But leaving the question of colour for the moment we need also to consider shape. It appears that the owner added two half rondavels to his existing rectangular home. It might be the other way around but it doesn’t make much difference. Joining round to straight is always tricky – which is almost certainly why it is only rarely attempted.
The result, in this instance, however, is distinctly eye catching. This is, of course, because of those two large wood frame windows and their pronounced black surrounds. But therein lies the puzzle. Window frames, whether of metal or wood, are rigid. They cannot go around corners. But somehow this owner has pulled it off presumably by flattening the two-frontage half rondavels. Unfortunately, this is not clear in the photos. But if he was obliged to do so in order to accommodate those windows, the end result would have to be something like a squashed pumpkin. It would be possible to do this if the walls, as is likely, were made of flexible compacted earth.
