Ockert's grandson - Elmero, who died in his nineties in 2003, had many happy memories of Onse Rus. As a schoolboy he spent the school terms with his grandparents, returning to the family farm for the holidays. As a teenager during the Great Depression he grew at a rapid rate and needed a new suit for some family occasion. Since there was no money for 'extra's' he brought a pair of tame springbok he had reared on the farm into town and sold them to Oom Piet 'Doppies' Swanepoel, a shopkeeper. He received £4, a huge sum, certainly enough to provide the woollen cloth and pay the tailor, 'Man Rank' who rented the front room at Onse Rus, to make him a new suit. 

Lettie Oosthuizen 1846 – 1933  (photographed in her 60’s)

When Mr Siebert was the editor, the Prince Albert Friend was published and printed at Onse Rus. In time the house became home to the first forester in the Swartberg Mountains. Mr Hough, who raised eight beautiful daughters here. In the 1980's Gill Gordon-Hogg bought the property and lovingly restored it to its former glory. Now Gary and Lisa welcome you to Onse Rus - a peaceful place filled with  happy memories and a sense of history.

Grandchildren Aletta Catherine, Ockie (Elmero) and Belle Oosthuizen in 1908