Back to his roots
ALAN Goldberg’s parents sold their Walmer home in 1979 when he was a teenager.
Twenty-two years later he is back – as the new owner!
His parents built the house in 1971 in the then sparsely populated suburb when he was five. After they moved, the family lived in several different areas including spending time back in Walmer.
Alan, 46, and Hilary, 44, moved into their new Dormy Place home in 2001 with their two children – Daniel, 11, and Jodi, 13.
"When the house came onto the market, I did not even have to go and look at it. I just bought it,” said Alan.
He said the only reason he bought the house was because it was close to Theodor Herzl, which the children attend and where Hilary is a Grade 4 teacher.
Alan, the Southern Cape regional manager for BoE Private Clients, also has a connection to Theodor, having attended the primary school before moving to Grey.
Hilary, who was born in Central, enjoys the family-orientated suburb of Walmer.
"Everything we do is here, and Walmer Park is so close,” she said.
The greenery and tranquility appeals to Alan who played in the valley as a child.
"The valley was alive then, and all the children played there.”
He said one of the things that has changed since then is that almost every house in the street has an electric fence now. Their house is the only one without a front wall.
Alan says, except for some minor changes such as the pool the previous owners put in, the house has not changed since he lived there as a child.
Other things have not changed either.
"When I was Daniel’s age, I would climb up the laundry shoot, now he does it,” said Alan.
The children love the stage. Both had parts in the 2010 musical, Annie. Daniel also played the part of Willem van Rooyen in Fiela’s Child last year.
The family enjoy going away during the holidays – Blanco and St Francis Bay being their favourite haunts.