Ditsong Sammy Marks Museum — Attraction in Tshwane Ward 101

Sammy Marks arrived in South Africa with a case of silver knives as his only valuable possession, and became one of the first entrepreneurs, playing a significant role in mining, industrial and agricultural development in the country. Ninety eight percent of the household contents in Sammy Marks Museum originally belonged to the Marks family. Sammy Marks Museum is a Victorian mansion and heritage site on the farm Zwartkoppies east of Pretoria and treasures the legacy of Samuel Mark (1844-1920), a symbol of entrepreneurship in South Africa. The 48-room mansion with its lush gardens and tennis courts originally belonged to 19th century agricultural, industrial and mining tycoon Sammy Marks, who lived there with his wife Bertha and their nine children.

This place is rich is culture, art and history. I got to learn about how Sammy Mark became an industrialist and also wealthy over the years. The life if his kids, where they slept, what the did et al. The tour guide relayed the story in a graphic way, I could picture myself in the house filled with the family walking through their lives, struggles,conversations etc.

The highlight was the interior of the house, his furniture taste, maps, letters, the bedrooms, game rooms, the kitchen area, library etc. He lived an exemplary life and I left the house with great hope of venturing into other sectors.

The museum is suitable for picnics, bird watching, a walk in the gardens, photoshoots, day dreaming amongst other things.

I was privileged to take some pictures in his Victorian kitchen...

Life is beautiful......

A little slice of the Victorian Era hidden in the African bush. From the casual visitor looking for a quiet place to enjoy something from the tea garden to the serious history buff wanting to soak up the untouched splendour of the "Palace in the Bush", this attraction will satisfy everyone.

The tea garden offers a small selection of reasonably priced fare. Picnic baskets can be ordered ahead of time at R220 for a basket that serves two people or R345 for a basket that serves four people (prices valid in Jan 2017, might be higher from Feb 2017). Baskets include roast chicken, bread & butter, potato salad, cheese, salami, fruit & a bottle of wine.

House tours leave the front door every hour on the hour & are conducted by very knowlegdeable guides. Tickets can be purchased from the gift shop at R45 per adult. Learn about the famous ghost(s) that roam the house and the extravagant dinner parties on the famous Royal Blue crockery bearing Sammy & Bertha's initials. Well...

The museum is very beautiful and well preserved. There are lots of authentic pieces that is worth while to see. The entry fee is very affordable. Unfortunately we would have liked to have a better guide. The guide knows his stuff like a parrot and although he can show you all the pieces and name them he is not very passionate about it can hardly tell you anything about the people or what their likes and dislikes were. He really did not give any extra information except that which you can also read on the internet or pamphlets he did not even know how some of the stuff worked that is in the museum. He just knew the names of the stuff. And did not really tell us anything else about the people or the customs of the time etc. We actually knew more about Sammy Marks than what the guide did. That...