Abstract Afrikaans has hybrid compounds that pair Khoekhoe and Dutch roots to denote indigenous flora and cultural items, e.g., ghwarrieboom ‘guarri tree’. Afrikaans hart(e)beeshuis ‘wattle and daub house’ falls within this compound type, even though it looks straightforwardly Dutch hart(e)bees(t) ‘species of African antelope’ + huis ‘house’. Lexicalization of hybrid harbeeshuis took place in the Cape Dutch Pidgin as a term for a shelter or dwelling with water-resistant roof, with a cognate of Nama xaribe ‘wipe away (water)’ as the first term of the compound. White pastoralists adopted this style of vernacular architecture along with the term for it, whence the creation of hart(e)beeshuis by folk etymology.