Corner House (also known asOld Corner House) in thecentral business district ofJohannesburg was the headquarters of one of the largest mining conglomerates inSouth Africa. This building's unique history earned it a declaration as a national heritage monument in 1999.
When the property developer Urban Ocean purchased the once prominent building on 77 Commissioner Street, on the corner with Simmonds Street, in 2003, it was in a state of disrepair.[1] Currently, it houses a hotel, offices, apartments, restaurants, a spa, and a gymnasium.
The first building on the site dated to 1886 and was made ofcorrugated iron and wood. It was known as "Beit's house" In 1893, a two-story edifice was built with luxury finishes such as balconies, cast iron bars, and a copper and green-tiledcupola.[1] TheJameson Raid was said to have been planned here. Hermann Eckstein, Jr., hired the South African architectural firmLeck & Emley to build Johannesburg's firstskyscraper of 10 stories.Upon the buildings completion in 1903 it was the largest and tallest commercial building in South Africa.[2]It had an elevator and marble floors, and the offices were built withoak andAfrican teak wood. In the basement were two largesafes for the gold bars. Bullet holes in the front gable date to the 1922Rand Rebellion. Rand Mines sold the building toBarclays Bank in 1964. The mining company then built a new headquarters nearby on the corner of Commissioner and Sauer Streets. At first, the new building was also known as Corner House.
The name Corner House comes not only from the location of the building but also from the founder of Rand Mines, namelyHermann Eckstein.Eckstein means "cornerstone" in German, reflecting the younger Eckstein's perception of himself as a cornerstone of themining industry.
26°12′20″S28°02′24″E / 26.20549°S 28.03995°E /-26.20549; 28.03995
