Historic farm house 'best buy' in Boland
2009-03-05
THE historic manor house on the farm Goede Hoop adjoining Boschendal is on one of the Founders’ Estates currently on the market in Groot Drakenstein (for about R37 million). According to Clive Venning, chief executive of the new owners’ consortium at Boschendal, Goede Hoop is the largest, most expensive and, some would say, best sited of the Founders’ Estates at Boschendal. After five years in negotiation, re-negotiation and planning revisions all 18 Founders’ Estates are now available for sale at prices between R16 million to R37 million. Goede Hoop was built by Peter Hendrick de Villiers in 1821, but the original farm grant dates back to 1688 and the title deeds from 1708, making this one of the first successful Huguenot settlements in the Franschhoek/Dwars River Valley. Boschendal’s recently publicised coffee table book covering the entire history of the estate and the Franschhoek Valley reveals that the de Villiers clan were by 1821 the pre-eminent landowners in the valley, with Paul and Anna de Villiers consolidating the family’s position by building the third manor on the Boschendal site in 1812. In 1897 all the historic homesteads, including Goede Hoop, and their related estates, were bought by Cecil John Rhodes as part of his initiative to introduce large-scale fruit farming to the Cape. Goede Hoop has half-moon gable and half-hipped ends. The nearby T-shaped thatched roof cellar which occupies a dominant position on the site has a gable dated 1837 - and there are several other buildings on the site including a manager’s house and stables. The werf is ringed by the traditional white plastered wall and has a bell tower built in 1934 to commemorate the freeing of the slaves 100 years earlier. All this area has mature oaks and cultivated gardens that give year-round shade and a soft look to the home. The homestead itself has three bedrooms with two further in the annex and large spacious living areas, the flooring throughout being in terracotta tile and wood. The ceilings are yellowwood and the entire floor area of the home and annex is in excess of 600 square metres. Venning pointed out recently to possible buyers from the UK that prices have remained roughly the same as they were at the time that the scheme was conceived four to five years ago despite land prices having escalated by over 50% during that period. This, he said, is in recognition of the fact that the global economy is now in a poor state. This means that the Founders’ Estates, for which the necessary infrastructure alone will cost R70 million, are in fact being sold virtually at cost. Goede Hoop, like other Founders’ Estates, is situated in 320 ha of vineyards and fruit orchards and is linked to 200 ha of mountainside nature reserve reaching up the slopes of the Simonsberg. This will be preserved in perpetuity. Buyers of the Founders’ Estates will have all the pleasures and privileges of owning a wine estate or fruit farm, but without the hassles of farming, harvesting or wine production, which will continue to be under the control of Boschendal. Buyers will, however, have the right to certain wines and will be able to label these as their own. They will also have the right to use the Herbert Baker designed Rhodes Cottage for entertainment and accommodation for their guests. This will be given an out-of-sight basement that will include a large wine cellar and a living/dining area. For further information, contact Peter Rademeyer on 083-447-1223.
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