Windybrow was designed in 1896 by William Leck for Theodore Reunert, founder of the engineering firm Reunert and Lenz. The building is among the last remains of Doornfontein's grandest buildings from a by-gone era. In the early part of the 20th Century Doornfontein was home to Joburg's elite such as the Ecksteins, Cecil John Rhodes and John Hays Hammond (who later became Vice-President of the USA). Over the years the neighbourhood lost its prestige and by 1945 the once-grand Windybrow had become part of the BG Alexander Nursing College.

In the 1980s the building was transformed into a theatre with the help of the Market Theatre, and was declared a national monument in 1996. Recently the building has undergone further renovations with the help of the Market Theatre and is set to become the centre of a new cultural precinct and regeneration project in the Doornfontein area.