The old picture this week takes us to a block of flats at 244 Florida Road originally called Drumoland, and today named Reymar.
The picture was published on February 6, 1981, with the following caption: “Tenants at Drumoland ‒ a block of flats in Florida Road ‒ claim the block’s new owners have made life a misery by getting off to a flying start with a renovation scheme. Bricks and rubble have been dumped between the flats at the outbuildings at the back and work has begun on gutting empty flats. The remaining tenants complain of noise, dirt and inconvenience, and they are entitled to stay in their flats until the end of April.”
Little is known about the original block. It is not listed in the SA architectural digest Artefact. The only block of flats listed in Florida Road, but without an address, were designed for S Schultz by architect Alan Clement Woodrow in 1939. This may, or may not have been this block, but the period certainly looks right.
There is no info on the spelling of the original name, which could have been a variant on Dromoland Castle in Ireland, today a five-star hotel.
Today there are 15 flats in Reymar valued at between R900 000 and R1.55 million. These may include some of the original out buildings. Two of them are being let as Airbnb. The original verandahs of the building have all been enclosed and garaging added, destroying the original architectural feel of the block, as photographer Shelley Kjonstad’s picture shows.