Nesbitt Castle
| Nesbitt Castle | |
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Location in Zimbabwe
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| Former names | Holdengarde Castle |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Castle |
| Architectural style | Neo-gothic |
| Town or city | Bulawayo |
| Country | Zimbabwe |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Named for | Theodore Holdengarde Digby Nesbitt |
| Renovated | August 1990 |
| Owner | Digby Nesbitt |
| Grounds | 16 acres (0.065 km2) |
| Website | |
| nesbittcastle |
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Nesbitt Castle, formerly Holdengarde Castle, is a 20th-century neo-gothic castle near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It was built by business man Theodore Holdengarde in the 1920s.[1]
Contents
Construction
Theodore Albert Edward Holdengarde (born Theodore Garde[2], 1878-1947[3][lower-alpha 1]) was a South African-born man of British descent who ran a successful construction business and was mayor of Bulawayo in 1938 and 1940.[2] Arriving in Zimbabwe between 1908 and 1910, he bought 100 acres of land outside Bulawayo and constructed the castle over a period of time.[4] Inspired by medieval romanticism, the owner worked on the castle at weekends with a small team, at times demolishing and rebuilding to follow his changing plans.[2][4]
After the death of Holdengarde in 1947, and his wife in 1967, the castle briefly fell into disrepair before being taken over by their son, Paul, an ex-WWII pilot, who renovated the premises.[4] However, failing health and old age meant that he was unable to maintain the castle and protect it from squatters, satanists and arsonists, who burnt down the reception in 1974.[2][1][4]
Current use
Soon before his death in 1988, Paul sold the castle to Chiredzi businessman Digby Nesbitt, who led renovation of the castle.[2][1][4] The building reopened in 1990 as a luxury hotel.[2][1][4] It has been closed as of February 2017 for further renovations following bad weather.[5]
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
