Smalkloof Guest Farm, Volksrust

Golden Light

I am increasingly drawn to simplicity, and a farm stay brings a certain groundedness to a work travel trip which I really appreciate. Smalkloof Guest Farm, just outside Volksrust, is the perfect antidote to business stress. This is a place of golden hay bales, sheep and big skies. I drive up the long drive and stop to admire a large herd of sheep. It is dinner time and they come closer, stop, stare and then I can see one of the sheep saying to the others “Play it cool, guys, but I don’t think she’s the one who usually brings us our supper.” This is of course followed by collective panic as they all run bleating away as fast as there little legs can carry them. As I said, it’s good to be on a farm, where things are simple and real.

It seems that most of the rooms have entrances out to the beautiful farm, with plentiful outdoor seating areas. The room in which I choose to stay has its own verandah with table and chairs. Inside it is warm – with glowing orange art and cushions and an indoor fireplace. It is a cold night and I am pleased to settle in front of the fire. The en-suite bathroom is well equipped and I leave the bedroom door open to enjoy both bath and fire.

Accommodation Experience

Even the richest person on earth can’t do much better than warm, buttery toast and tea, appreciated outdoors with sunny skies and a view. I make a mindful cuppa and take it outside to the table under the big tree to enjoy. I am joined by all 5 the Jack Russel dogs, who share my enthusiasm for tea and the great outdoors.

I catch myself gulping big breaths of fresh air as my eye keeps being drawn to the open skies and golden fields with awe and gratitude.

Augusta de Mist Country Retreat, Swellendam

Ordinary Miracle

I was beginning to feel a bit bored with luxury accommodation – spoilt by too much of a good thing I guess. I was on the search for something exceptional. I needed art. The moment I opened the delightful website of Augusta de Mist Country Retreat in Swellendam I knew I had found it. In fact, don’t even bother reading the rest of this review – really, I won’t be offended at all – just click straight on www.augustademist.co.za.

A sense of humour and creative flair pervades every aspect of this beautiful 1802 manor house. Augusta de Mist was named after diary-writing teenager Augusta de Mist, who travelled through Swellendam with her father, a Dutch commissioner. This is one of the oldest buildings in one of the oldest towns in South Africa.

The gardens are lush, with lots of secret hideaways and paths to discover. There is a pool with elegant handmade loungers made by a local company from used wine barrels. The gardens are quiet and one feels far out in the country, even though the guesthouse is right in the centre of Swellendam, near the Drostdy Museum. It is within easy and safe walking to excellent local restaurants, even at night.

The integrity of the original homestead has been beautifully preserved, with original Yellowwood doors and beams. And now each room has been turned into a living art installation, with dramatic décor and gorgeous furniture. Sage and soft blues meld against the meter-thick walls. A show-stopping silver couch and feminist South African art work draw the eye in the lounge.

Apart from your own indoor and outdoor seating areas, there are at least 3 different dining areas inside the main lodge – one off the kitchen, out front on the “stoep” (verandah) and at the back patio – such that one may follow the sun around the building at all times of the day.

After much nail-biting deliberation (and a few backwards and forward emails), I choose to stay in the Buchu Suite, a freestanding cottage at the top of the garden and edge of the forest. It has large sash windows, a stable door as well as another set of double doors facing out onto the woods. In the lounge there are two funky upholstered armchairs and a fireplace.

I would be hard pressed to choose between my favourite room in this cottage – the lounge, bedroom or bath. The heavenly bed has white linen, a quilt and cushions of Dutch settler Jan van Riebeek. It is one of the most comfortable I have ever slept in. There is a deep, shuttered window at the head of the bed.

A glorious bespoke Livingstone bath is set up against a high window. There is a spacious shower and double basin. Cool screed floors and reed-and-open-beam ceilings bring the modern fittings perfectly back into context.

Accommodation Experience

Discovering this place feels like one of Sarah McLachlan’s “ordinary miracles”, bringing hope and creative inspiration at a time when I need it. I have a fun afternoon bounding around taking photographs of the main lodge and my loveliest of suites, enjoying the textures and colours which come with good decorating and an historic building. 

Finally I settle into an armchair, doors on both sides of my lounge opened wide to let in the breeze. As I enjoy a richly flavoured coffee, admiring the artistic room and the way the light comes in from the forest views, I realise that what is at the end of the rainbow is so much more than what one expected to find, if we are open and awake to the ordinary miracles of life. 

The White House, Mthatha

It’s all about balance

A lovely definition for the verb of balance is “to offset the value of one thing with another”. Things brings about a state of equilibrium, or more simply put, “to enable someone or something to remain upright and steady” (Google web).

This is what I find at The White House in Mthatha. I was involved in visits to community projects in the extreme heat, dust and busyness of the urban streets and surrounding townships of Mthatha. I thoroughly enjoyed the intensity and vibrance of the work, but needed to counter-foil this experience with calm, clean, minimalist repose. The serene interiors really are all white, with white walls, white windows and doors, white furniture and crisp white linen. After washing the dust off in a spacious, modern shower, I found balance by collapsing into this little haven at the end of each day.

There are rooms squeezed into every corner of this property, but once inside, they create a cell of calm contentment. Rooms are air-conditioned, with glass doors, lined curtains, desks, plentiful pretty lamps, complimentary tea and coffee.

The public spaces are elegantly decorated with landscape and Nguni scenes, together with country clocks and blue and white checked table cloths. An outdoor pool and conservatory-style dining area is a gathering point for guests in the evening. Staff are helpful and always on hand, and there is a restaurant at the lodge such that you needn’t leave your little oasis except to head out again into the texture and life of the city and beyond onto the beauty of the Eastern Cape wild coast.

Windmill House, Gauteng

Rare Find

I almost did not write a review of this place. It is simply too lovely and I want to keep it to myself. It’s ours – our Precious. It is so difficult to find the tri-factor of success in Gauteng accommodation – conveniently located, cost effective, and above all, beautiful. Windmill House in central Parkhurst ticks all these boxes – and then some. Styled as a country farmhouse, French- and African-themed art, furniture and fittings bring a rare combination of elegance and groundedness. Every room is thoughtfully and tastefully decorated.

I choose to stay in the Blue Room, decorated in the loveliest blues and whites, with dark wooden furniture, including a King-size bed and a single sleigh day bed and a grand wardrobe. There is commitment to the theme without overdone fussiness. A black and white Nguni rug and covered coffee table bring African flair. Two artistic paintings of our late father, Nelson Mandela, grace the walls.

The open-plan bedroom-lounge has high ceilings and exposed white beams. There are two high sash windows. The bathroom is tiled in soft matt black and white checks, while fitted with a deep, modern bath and spacious glass shower. There is another sash window, and from the bath one looks out onto trees and a dappled sunset.

Accommodation Experience:

While staying at Windmill House for work, I have agreed to meet with a friend of mine’s daughter-in-distress. Her boyfriend of 3 years broke up with her suddenly, unexpectedly and of course, via sms. I am moved by her plight, but still it is hard for me to leave my haven of tranquility. We go out for dinner, and, as most of us do, she simply needs someone to listen empathically and to be given the freedom to speak out loud the thoughts and unanswerable questions that have been plaguing her since the cruel break-up.

As I return early to my loveliest of rooms, I feel enveloped by its elegant warmth. I am both privileged to have been able to offer a simple ear to a young person in a state of extreme sadness, and grateful to be back in such a serene space of beauty. I am not sure if a room can really make one a better and more caring version of oneself, but I believe that this one did. And I am almost ready to share it with others who need a kind and pretty space in which to rest and be inspired to be a better version of themselves.