The house likely dates from 1683, but was substantially rebuilt in the French Victorian style in 1881 by a Capt.

It was bought by the Randlord Sir J.B. Robinson in 1891 and was where he lived until his death in 1927.

Count Natale Labia, grandson of J.B. Robinson, donated Hawthornden to what is now the Government of the Western Cape Province in 1978, but will continue to live there during his lifetime.

[2] In 2014 the area protected was extended to include the entire remaining gardens.

Hawthornden is one of the major surviving examples of high style Victorian domestic architecture in Cape Town.