Villa on Joubet, Ladybrand

Small-Town Style

A classical 1925 Eastern Free State sandstone building, Villa on Joubert in Ladybrand is as charming as it is stylish. The Villa is conveniently situated between Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, close to the Lesotho border. The area boasts the beautiful sandstone Maluti Mountains, with open valleys layered with subtle greens and browns.  

I have stayed in both the Taupe Room and the Silver Room and highly recommend either for a bit of Free State French country-style glamour. The rooms are individually decorated, with tasteful tassels, carved furniture, modern cushions and soft throws. Each room has a textured sandstone wall and its own entrance.

What I love about Villa on Joubert:

• The bed and breakfast is in a quintessential Eastern Free State sandstone building with a long verandah out front
• The rooms are well situated in different corners of the house, some with their own entrances onto pretty verandahs
• Individually decorated rooms show off tasteful country verve
• There are warm beds, electric blankets and the rooms are carpeted throughout
• An excellent fresh breakfast is beautifully presented in the sunny breakfast room
• This stay epitomises warm country hospitality and professional hosting

Accommodation Experience:

Some people are born to be hostesses, and Carin at Villa on Joubert is one of these ladies. With an eye for artistic decor, a deft hand in the kitchen and a welcoming ear, she instantly creates a welcoming space which feels like home from home.

I stay for a week at the Villa while working in the area in mid-Winter. Each morning the grass in the valley is so thick with frost it looks like snow. At the end of each day it is with a sense of immense gratitude that I come back to my warm and inviting room. There is something about being in a cosy space in the midst of an intense cold spell and with sub-zero temperatures outside, and I snuggle happily into my room, content to leaf through an enjoyable book until my eyes become too heavy to stay open any longer. 

Prynnsberg Estate, Clocolan, Free State

History in the making

Never before had I been excited to stop in the middle of nowhere in the Free State. Cue Prynnsberg Estate, a glorious old 1881 manor house and lodge conveniently situated just back from the scenic R 26 between Fiksberg and Clocolan. There’s nothing better than discovering an old gem in a pretty setting, which is being restored to its former glory.

Classical of architecture and stylish of interior, I chose to stay in Aran, the Gamekeeper’s Lodge situated on a high hill beyond the original manor house. An original sandstone building typical of this area, I was worried by the name that the cottage would be dark and pokey, but this Lodge is as spacious and light as it is cosy, with a large open-plan lounge-kitchen-dining area with a fireplace and comfortable couches. The Lodge has been recently renovated to a high standard, but in keeping with the original period style. There are two bedrooms each with lovely white linen and traditional furniture, a luxurious sparkling bathroom complete with black-and-white checked tile floors and a ball and claw bath. A long veranda wraps around two sides of the building with an authentic ox-wagon decorating the wide front veranda. A pretty cherry blossom tree reminds one of the local fame of the region.

Accommodation Experience

As I move further into the second half of life, I find that what I look for in accommodation has changed. Increasingly I appreciate artistic integrity, sensory experiences, quintessential local character, and classical heritage with a fresh twist. In short, I am in search of soulful encounters of the most authentic kind. This is what I find at Prynnsberg Manor and Aran the Gamekeeper’s Lodge.

I wake early and head out to the long veranda which wraps around the Lodge. The views below are vast, and the mist lifting off the wide plains enhances the sense of an ancient and untouched African landscape.

After a hearty English breakfast the host offers to give us a tour of the manor house itself. I become quite giddy trying to figure out how all the many rooms are laid out in the extensive building. The host expertly leads us to the grand finale – a genuine Victorian bath house, with 3 freestanding baths laid out alongside one another in a spacious original stone building. I can only imagine the interesting conversations which have been had over the decades in this room and I instantly begin plotting and scheming a reason to return with a large group of favourite friends to add our own experience to the history of this estate.