Hawksmoor House, Stellenbosch

Extending time

 

This is my second stay at Hawksmoor House and I start to wonder how they organise such intensity of blue skies each time I visit. It is so blue it lifts the soul instantly. You would have to be a seriously miserable person to be unhappy here.

The artistically landscaped gardens offer many delights. Someone has considered the movement of light over the property and throughout the day there are back-lit gems of all colour and shape.

Within the historic homestead, artistic decor picks up on the rich blue skies, red vines, green-lit Oaks and purple lavender. Around every corner there is a surprise and one is drawn into fascinating spaces with each vibrant, sunlit wall and perfectly balanced piece of antique furniture. The choice of colour for each room becomes especially clear in the late afternoon when the slanting light reflected off the long koi pond creates a play of interconnecting hues.

No lazy, tourist-pleasing pseudo-African decorating here - this no faux wine estate or country fake new build. It is intensely local, a 300 year old Cape Dutch thatched grand house surrounded by rambling outbuildings. And being on a real working wine and fruit farm, you feel local and privileged to enter this space. 

I give a gasp as an enormous (and may I say very well endowed) bull walks right past my low window. I am relieved to see he is on the other side of a fence and we spend a good few minutes staring at one another in equal fascination. It seems he got as much of a fright seeing me as I him and despite his size and ferocious look, I gather he is a bit frightened of the wind and seeking company rather than trouble. I stop short of offering a cuddle.

One of the best value luxury stays South Africa has to offer, I recommend this place to everyone I can. It is perfectly placed to access the Cape Town International airport, the wine farms and restaurants of Paarl, Wellington, Stellenbosch, and even Franschhoek and Cape Town itself. If you can bear to leave that is - Hawksmoor specialises in deep, beautiful baths, quality white linen, antique furniture, dramatic decor and double French doors letting in a splay of golden light and leading onto characterful outdoor seating areas. Most surprisingly, all this comes without primp or petulance, with the hosts offering warm, genuinely friendly and helpful hospitality such that your stay here will simply never be long enough.

Accommodation experience

Indeed the days are too short here and I wish to apply for an official extension of time at the magical space that is Hawksmoor House. The weather puts on such a spectacular show that it takes me a while to settle. The sky turns even bluer now, almost purple in its insistence. Fortunately my camera battery dies and I am forced to spend a slow sunset simply sitting on my private balcony where this place does indeed perform its magic on me. I am able to extend my time here through a portal into presence, a different time dimension altogether. 

Here there are delicious moments which extend downwards, rather than horizontally, into infinite sensory experiences which stretch even to the future where I am able to access them as I write. The experience of the sun streaming into my room, the layering of a valley with trees and mist, the tinny call of a guinea fowl, a row of impossibly straight ducks flying slowly past my open doors, a hawk caught on an updraught, suspended in time like me. If I could stay in this state, here on this natural patch of earth, I am sure I could live forever.

Hawksmoor House, Stellenbosch

Entering into Slow Time

One of my favourite scenes by novelist Kurt Vonnegut[i] is where he describes the late night bonding between an insomniac war veteran and his faithful dog, where he writes “I let him know that I like him and he lets me know that he likes me.” This simple sentiment is what I wish to express about everything at Hawksmoor House, including their two easily likeable hounds. From the first email, to the reception at the hotel, to the tour of the grand Cape Dutch style homestead, one is made to feel warmly welcomed.

I run out of superlatives during the showing of the 300-year old homestead, with its original Aga stove and Oregon pine corner kitchen cupboard. The resplendent dining room is layered with priceless antiques, with enormous double doors and windows. The lounge has a cavernous fireplace and beautifully upholstered grand chairs. There is an elegant furnished verandah at the back of the building, overlooking a long Koi pond with thick purple lavender bushes back-lit by the setting sun.

I love a country estate with plenty of tumbling outbuildings, which abound here at Hawksmoor House. The accommodation has been expertly integrated into the outbuildings and the original manor house, such that no new additions have been built onto the property. It is hard to choose amongst the fabulously decorated suites, but finally I settle on a stay in the old Slave Quarters, in the grey room. The grey walls are so rich they almost look blue in the sunlight which streams into the room throughout the day. Even the elaborate French country-style dressing table, wardrobe, headboard and mirrors are painted in the same grey tones. The colour is enhanced by the white borders of the tall sash windows and double doors, and the cool, creamy limestone flagged floors. The room has views over the autumn-hued vineyards, across the valley to the mountains beyond. Indeed, I like this place very well.

What I love about Hawksmoor House:

• The lovely approach into the estate, towards the original Cape Dutch homestead, flanked by two equally gracious oak trees
• The celebration of the historical buildings, which have been sensitively restored to be light and spacious without losing any architectural integrity
• Staying on a working farm, without preciousness or sterile blandness, but full of texture and warm country hospitality
• Gentle pooches which elegantly decorate the Persian carpets in the impressive dining room
• Individually decorated suites with lavish style and bold use of modern colour
• Conveniently located just off the N1, with easy access to Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek and Cape Town, yet with a country feel which encourages a gentle slowing down of one’s usual frenetic pace of life

Accommodation Experience

If I stay here much longer I shall be a very clean prune – I find myself entering slow time and I have one of the lengthiest, loveliest baths ever. A deep Victoria and Albert bath is set up against a tall sash window, with views across the valley to the mountains beyond. I watch the setting sun turn the mountains and skies pink, enjoying the contrast of the cool breeze from the open window with the hot water. Some guinea fowl are outside the window making their musical tuck-tucking.

Single-tasking is the new buzz word on the spiritual and psychological block – the simple act of doing one thing at a time, with mindful attention and appreciation. An antidote to the stress and hectic pace of modern life, the idea is to be fully present to each activity, using this awareness to slow us down and become more awake to life. And what better place to try out this practice than at Hawksmoor House, in the beautiful Cape winelands.

We have so little time on this earth – do we really want to spend it living a kind of half-life – never slowing enough to feel the texture of fresh food, the grass under our feet or the sun on our skin? We lose hours, days, weeks to mindless rushing or dull drudgery. Instead we are invited to participate actively in the small everyday miracles of life – the full experience of simply tasting a cup of tea, not gulping it down while texting and planning when to fit in the shopping. I am having the privilege of entering into this slow time at this country retreat, where time is stretching before me in delicious, sacred moments. And I highly recommend it to you, wherever you find yourself now, in this moment of time.

---

[i] In his novel Slaughterhouse 5