If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that I have a deep deep love for Joburg. Every time I visit there's a shiny new gold nugget to explore, and my most recent trip led me to the hilltops of Linksfield where I visited the home of L Ron Hubbard. I always thought of Scientology as a crack-pot religion for superstars like Tom Cruise...and I was waiting for them to convert me (read brain wash) and then ask me to hand over the title deed to my house. To my surprise the delightful tour guide (who is a scientologist) did nothing of the sort, and when I asked him to explain Scientology to me, he said it's best if I find out for myself, and not take his word for it. Refreshing. We then had a long conversation about philosophy, Buddism, his own spiritual journey and the life of the main man, L Ron.
L Ron Hubbard lived in the Linksfield home from 1960 - 1961, it was designed by Frank L Jarrett in 1951 for a Greek timber merchant, Manos Broulidakis - who spared no expense in pimping out the house with the finest building materials of the time. To quote the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation "the house is an excellent example of post-war modernism with its bold flying roof, rusticated and recessed slasto base, and dramatic form created through the articulation of different functions using the steepness of the ridge slope". It is now a museum, which was painstakingly converted back to it's former glory and well worth a visit.
Photography by me.
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