Their building was the Railway Station without trains. It was built to be Hermanus's railway station in anticipation of the line being extended from Bot River. The General Manager of South African Railways, a Scotsman called William Hoy, vetoed it, however. Him and his wife chose Hermanus for a holiday.

They liked it so much that they returned frequently. He felt the village would be spoilt by a railway, which would make it easily accessible to people from Cape Town.