Sarora Hills
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KipkarrenAs described in Ray Nestor's book, An African Sketchbook
“Eventually
we reached our destination at Kipkarren. The house we rented was the
best in the district. It was built in the Colonial Dutch style with a
number of ornate gables. The main feature of the interior was a fine
big room 30 feet long with a high arched ceiling supported by massive
timbers, the walls were panelled in cedar and it was well furnished.
There were ornaments which the owner had brought from Zanzibar, and a
fine Lamu chest on which was placed a superb Russian icon. It was in
fact surprising to find a residence of this standard in so remote a
part. In addition there were three or four bedrooms and a tiled
bathroom. There was also a cellar. The owner who had died some months
previously had been a chemist, and one of his hobbies was to brew his
own liquor. He made a mead from honey which we had often enjoyed when
he was alive. As a perfectionist he decided to have it properly
matured, so he poured the mead into a barrel, which he stored in the
cellar, intending to allow it to ripen for a year. But when he tried to
drain it off, there was none there. His servant had drunk the lot.”
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The Kirkham House at KipkarrenThe black and white photographs below, taken sometime in the 1930s or 1940s, were provided by Poul Jorgensen. |
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Early Photograph of Kirkham House |
 Kirkham House, circa 1930s/1940s |
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Interior of Kirkham House, 1930s/1940s |
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The Jorgensen / Lichtenstein Farms |
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Lichtenstein Farmhouse, circa 1950 |
| On the left is the Jorgensen / Lichtenstein farmstead. Sven Jorgensen was a builder who had built the farm house and a number of buildings in the area, and also had a hand in building Kirkham's house. The photograph on the right shows Henry Lichtenstein (father of David Lichtenstein) building a new farm house next to the original Jorgensen / Lichtenstein farmstead. Henry Lichtenstein did not finish building this house because the land was bought by the Government and handed back to the Nandi in 1950 as part of the Sarora Settlement Scheme. | |
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Kipkarren, 1975(1975 Photograph by Poul Jorgensen) |
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Updated on
September 16, 2008
