303 Florida Road was one of three adjacent houses, 303-309 Florida Road, one of the three being the well-known ‘Atherton’, now a restaurant. Their plans date back to the 1900’s and 303-309 were built for George Browne and Sir Abe Bailey in 1903. The one home above 303, is now a block of flats. Sir Abe Bailey was a wealthy ‘Randlord’ and politician, having made his fortune on the goldfields of the Witwatersrand. After WWII, these three Edwardian houses were joined and converted into a private hotel, the Dorchester Hotel and later in 1972, they became a retirement home, Cottam Grove. The homes proved costly to maintain and in 1988, 303 and 309 Florida Road, were acquired by I.G.I Assurance Company (Pty) Limited for R1.m. and a long battle by several heritage societies to save them from demolition. Neighbouring house, Atherton, was also acquired and in 1989 an amount of R900000 was spent on restoration. 303 and 309 Florida Road were proclaimed National Monuments in February 1989, with John Frost BArch 1961 receiving a conservation award for the restoration of Cottam Grove in 1991. The buildings were extensively renovated to their original condition, bringing to life their colonial majesty. All doors, windows skirtings and rails were removed and restored to their original condition and the pressed metal ceilings renovated, where rust had taken its toll. These Edwardian villas have gabled façades and upper and lower verandas, the lower being wider and corner verandas with intricate timber detail. The verandas have encaustic tiles, and the extensive use of stained-glass windows and doors give the house a tranquil interior ambience. 303 Florida Road (Erf 784) was bought by law firm John Hudson & Company, Attorneys, one of Durban’s oldest Law firms, in 1996, for R1230000, and thus saving this historic home, in this instance as offices. Extract from Hugh Bland's book' New Beginnings' , published in 2021.
