John Donald

Thesen House Thesen & Co. Ltd had their first offices and store at 42 Main Street, then later in 1887 in a wooden structure in Long Street opposite where this present building stands. Simpson & Bridgman of Oudtshoorn designed Thesen House in 1915, which was built by John Donald in 1917. It housed the offices and all the trading departments of Thesen & Co. Ltd. Built on a sandstone foundation with walls of brick under an iron roof the new building was 3 times bigger than the earlier wooden offices and store and had round towers at the north and south corners. A fire destroyed the building in July 1926 which was rebuild with gables showing a Viking ship, an anchor and the red with white star house flag of the shipping line known as the Thesen Steamship Company. The building still belongs to the Thesen family.

Long Street, Knysna, South Africa where they built