The original house was based on a design done by Herbert Baker in 1903 for Raymond William Schumacher (Ffennel), but was only built some years later. Schumacher was a Captain in the Rand Rifles, the corps raised in 1900 to guard the gold mines from attack by the Boers. During the war the British erected a blockhouse on this property overlooking what was then Old Pretoria Road. The historic building and land were donated to the Hope School by Schumacher. Feel free to send additional photographs to jamesball01@gmail.com