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History: This building was erected during the period 1834 to 1835 by the Rev. Jean Pierre Pellissier of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society. It is one of the oldest existing buildings in the Orange Free State and dates from the period when missionary work made an important contribution to the development of the area. The Rev. Pellissier, his wife and their five children are buried in the graveyard behind the house.

The Paris Missionary Society sent its first three missionaries to South Africa in 1829. In 1831 their ranks were strengthened by the arrival of Jean Pierre Pehlissier. Together with his colleagues Rolland and Lemue he went to Bechuanaland and established a mission station among the Bahurutsi at Motito, near Kuruman. In 1833 he moved to Bethulie in the southern Orange Free State where he gathered together the remnants of the Bathlaping tribe under Chief Lepui so that he could do missionary work amongst them.
One of Pellissier’s first tasks was to provide a shelter for his wife and himself. With the help of C. Gosselin, a missionary-artisan, he began to build his house in 1834. The work progressed slowly, for the materials had to be brought from far away, but it was a sturdy structure. The two gabled walls were 90 cm thick and the roof was thatched. It was a spacious house with a sitting room and several bedrooms. It was ready for Pelhissier to move into in August, 1835.
The Pellissier family increased rapidly and the house had to be enlarged. In 1853 Pelhissier added two lean-to rooms on one side, and in 1856 he added two more on the. other side.
Jean P. Pellissier lived in this house throughout his thirty-two years of devoted and selfless work amongst the Bathiaping at Bethulie. They were years of the utmost effort and tension; and during the Basuto wars the family were often in danger of their lives. When Jean Pierre Pellissier died the house passed into the hands of his only son, Samuel, who lived there until 1889. The house, which is now a museum, is one of the oldest houses built for European settlers north of the Orange River. It is a monument to the earliest missionary efforts.
Visual Description: The middle part of the house has a pitched roof. The facade has a metal veranda that rest on iron pi
Colours:
Site Features:
Condition: Good
Construction Date: 1834-1835
Materials: Coursed cut stone: Corrugated iron roof
Catalogue: , No: Nil, Significance Category: