On the 9th of October 2025, the Bethulie Heritage Foundation held a meeting with the Department of Public Works and representatives of the Pellissier family, Sam and his wife Ingrid, to discuss the process and progress of the donation of the museum back to the family of the French missionary Jean Pierre Pellissier, who came to South Africa to teach Christianity to the native African population.
The house was built by Jean Pierre Pellissier in 1833 and was completed in 1835. Local laborers were used to build the house. All the children of Jean Pierre and Martha Pellissier were born in this house. The house became the property of Jean Pierre Pellissier in the 1860’s. Unfortunately the bank repossessed the house due to a guarantor that was signed on the property for family members. Jean Pierre and Martha were allowed to live on the property until they died. After the death of Martha, the property was auctioned off by the bank in 1890. The Holm family bought it and it remained in their family until the 1970’s. The property was bought in 1972 by Sam Pellissier’s great grandfather. The house was donated to the Bethulie Municipality and became a museum.
In 2016 Mark and Sam Pellissier started investigating the possibility of gaining ownership of the property again and to restore the house. Currently the house belongs to the Free State Government. There are negotiations underway to get the Department of Public Works to transfer ownership to the Pellissier Family Trust. The trustees are Mark Pellissier, who resides in Scotland, Sam Pellissier from Stellenbosch and Jean Pierre Pellissier who lives in London.
Sam Pellissier is an architect who specialises in the restoration of old buildings in Stellenbosch and the Western Cape. He is in the process of renewing the permit at the Free State Heritage Foundation again so that he can start with the restoration project of the house. The plan is to start renovations in November of this year. Before renovations can start, the Heritage Foundation of the Free State must approve the permit.
Up until now Trudie Venter managed the museum with the help of the Bethulie Heritage Foundation, since the government scaled back their funding of historical buildings. The Department of Public Works handed her the keys to the museum on the first of September 2016.
After the meeting at “Die Plaaskombuis”, where the BHF invited everybody for scones and coffee, everyone walked across the street to the museum. The representatives of the DPW had to do an inspection to see in what state the building is at the moment. It has received no funding from the government for many years and as a result, the weather has caused extensive damage.
Even the garden has started to run wild, despite the efforts to keep it in good condition under the supervision of the grounds manager Sydney Goodman. Funds have always been a challenge and this limits the BHF committee in running the museum effectively. Most work has been done on a voluntary basis without financial compensation.
As part of November’s renovations, Sam Pellissier wants to start cleaning and restoring the garden. He had to apply to a separate government department to get permission to do work in this historical garden. The aim is to tidy it up to look like the original garden as it was laid out by Martha Pellissier.
Sam Pellissier and Sydney Goodman were discussing the condition of the garden and planning the restoration. Sydney has been on the BHF since it was founded by Trudie Venter in 2016.
Sam also plans do some restoration work on the graves where Jean Pierre, Martha and other members of the family were buried. To be able to do this, he had to apply to yet another government department for a permit.
Some of the attendees at the meeting from left to right: Sydney Goodman, Ronel Rusher, Trudie Venter (at the back), Nareez Simmons (DPW), Selloane Majoe (DPW), Ingrid Pellissier and Sam Pellissier
Selloane and Nareez had to come to the museum to take some photographs of the damage as part of their report to the MEC regarding the current state of the museum. Trudie gave them a quick introduction of the missionary Jean Pierre Pellissier whose photos can be seen on the wall.
Selloane and Nareez took a look around the museum to view all the interesting antiques and also, sadly, the state of disrepair of the building.
Samelia Adams of the BHF showed Selloane the kitchen with all the old technological devices that were found in kitchens of a hundred years ago and even older. In the background the deep cracks in the wall can be seen. The kitchen door and door frame are in danger of falling apart. This wing of the building is one of the areas that is in urgent need of repair.
The ladies from the DPW have now made the commitment to finalise the donation of the museum to the Pellissier Family Trust. They will complete the legal processes as soon as possible and give the paperwork to the MEC of the Free State to sign.
Everybody is waiting in anticipation for this event.
If you would like to make a donation to contribute to the restoration of this precious historical building, you can use the following bank details:
First National Bank
Pellissier Family Trust
Demand Deposit Account
Account Number: 629 1126 5165
Branch number: 261 050
SWIFT code: FIRNZAJJ
Address: 1 Voortrekker Street Bethulie, 9992
Donations can be made anonymously or you can use your name as reference.
Baie geluk Trudie met jou harde werk en baie ure se swoeg en sweet. Ons inwonders sien die moeite wat jy elke dag daar doen. Dankie vir die bewaring van ons geskiedenis.
A great moment for Bethulie.
The restoration of such an important symbol of our town’s heritage is a long-awaited dream and the fruit of Trudie Venter’s sterling efforts and perseverance.
A great “Thank you” to Sam Pellisier, the Pellisier Family Trust, and the Bethulie Heritage Foundation.