My grandparents Johannes Kerlen and Johanna van Weel moved from the Dutch East Indies to The Netherlands for a short while (about two years) and finally moved to South Africa in 1960. Their first house was on 2nd Avenue in Linden, Johannesburg and then moved to 84 1st Street Linden. They lived in the house until Oma’s death in 2010.
The house became the centre of the South African Kerlen family for the next 50 years. We spent many Sunday afternoons, school holidays and Christmases at the house. I fondly remember spending most of my childhood in the garden climbing trees, running around and playing all sorts of sports in the back garden. A particular favourite tree was the massive oak tree just behind the house. The driveway up to the house was extremely steep and thus a perfect spot to sit on our skateboards and roll down to the bottom of the garden.
The house is sadly no longer there so I am glad we still have the pictures to hold on to. If you click on each of the pictures there is a small description or anecdote attached.