LOCATION
30 Park Drive, Port Elizabeth

THE GALLERY HOURS
Weekdays; Monday - Friday 10H00 - 16H00
Weekends; First Saturday and Sunday of the Month 10H00 - 13H00
3rd and 4th Saturday of the Month 10H00 - 13H00
Closed: 2nd weekend of the month (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) and religious holidays

THE BUILDING
The building was designed by Gertruida Brinkman, the first woman architect to graduate in South Africa, and is one of
the most significant examples of regional Early Modern Architecture in Port Elizabeth.
Axel Stockelbach, the Danish-born managing director of Ford South Africa and the man indirectly responsible for the
decision of the motor industry to locate in Port Elizabeth in 1923, commissioned the design of the house. Construction
was completed in November 1936.
The Art Deco house, named "Ridgewood", was designed in Early Modern Style. In architectural circles the house is
known as "House Stockelbach". The streamline elements found in the Early Modern Architecture of Port Elizabeth
were an adaptation of the American Streamline Style.
In 1962 the property was sold to Mr Abe Karstaedt and was known as the "Karstaedt House" for many years. Mr
Phil R Gutsche purchased the house in August 1988. It was Mr Gutsche's wish, in 1998, that the residence be
converted into the Ron Belling Art Gallery.
Text: Ivor Markman