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All South Africa Nieu-Bethesda Owl House
AO Edited

Owl House

Sculpture park built by a 50-year-old widow.

Nieu-Bethesda, South Africa

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CAPTION
Helen’s spiritual ‘Camel Yard’ - cement garden (photo:Sandra Kriel)  
Broken glass covered walls - inside the Owl House ( photo:Sandra Kriel)  
photo-Sandra Kriel  
  jacobusvaneeden / Atlas Obscura User
  jacobusvaneeden / Atlas Obscura User
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Inside her house the ceilings and walls are covered in crushed glass.   jacobusvaneeden / Atlas Obscura User
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Many of the figures march toward Mecca reaching for the heavens.   jacobusvaneeden / Atlas Obscura User
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Suffering from depression as she reached middle age, Helen Martins began to channel her boredom with the life around her into creation, embellishing her surroundings with sculpture and painting and bringing light, color and art into her house and garden. She began with the inside of her house, which she soon finished, and then moved on to the outside, where she and Koos Malgas spent 12 years building the "Camel Yard," the exterior sculpture garden filled with hundreds of stone sculptures.

In addition, the yard is filled with exotically colored sculptures made with glass bottles including a life-sized woman with a glass skirt. One can almost see her twirling in the sunlight as the reflections bounce off the glass. 

Inspired by biblical texts, the poetry of Omar Khayyam, and the works of William Blake, Martins was also particularly fond of owls, hence the name of the house. By her late seventies, however, she was losing her eyesight and was no longer well enough to work on her house. She ended her life at age 78 by swallowing caustic soda.

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There is a wonderful local tavern in the town nearby with outside picnic tables and a host of local foods.

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Edited By

New England Patty, philip willem badenhorst, jacobusvaneeden, MariOla

  • New England Patty
  • philip willem badenhorst
  • jacobusvaneeden
  • MariOla

Published

August 24, 2011

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Owl House
Nieu-Bethesda, 6286
South Africa
-31.8664, 24.5548
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