The guerilla incident convinced Charles that it was time to leave Malaya with the result that the estate was sold, and Charles and Muriel moved to Cape Town. Charles purchased the home of Duncan Baxter (donor of the funds used to build the Baxter Theatre Centre) on 8 March 1951 for £25,000, and promptly renamed it Harcroft (as the Malayan estate had been). From then until his death he was officially retired, but in practice worked hard to manage his considerable investments, add to his collections of mostly oriental art, jade and ivory, and to run and embellish the of grounds around the house. Amongst the items he collected were two of the four official commemorative paintings done to mark the 1947 Royal Tour of South Africa. Following the accession of the anti-British National Party to power in 1948, the government of the Union of South Africa did not want the paintings. The other two belong to Cape Town City Council.