A secret delight tucked away in the Stellenbosch winelands
Discover a cluster of immaculately restored Cape Dutch farmhouses and barns hidden up Ida’s Valley near Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands.
To the owners, Patina Farm and Barn reflects the meaning of home and its ability to wrap its arms around us, where we feel protected and an inner state of happiness and grace is evoked. Being surrounded by nature is their greatest joy and passion.
Certainly a sense of the history and understated elegance of this rather special home begins to permeate as soon as one enters the farm, via a long driveway lined with beautiful, huge oak trees. The homestead is over 100 years old and set on a working plum farm completely hidden in a valley just outside Stellenbosch, the primus locus of Cape landscape with its miles of signature vines.
‘I have an unquenchable thirst for the pursuit of beauty and frankly reject the pretentious in favour of honest, authentic and simple’ says the owner, an interior designer with an acute eye and a replenishing spirit towards the environment. ‘I am unapologetic about wanting to create enduring beauty, things that are carefully considered, useful and make life comfortable, yet also speak to our emotions.’
These principles are played out to gorgeous effect; interiors created from an intoxicating mixture of objects collected on a lifelong hunt for wonders regardless of value or provenance, a layering of textured materials that are the visual equivalent of spices, aged wooden and stone floors, worn leather, wicker baskets and weathered family heirlooms. It is a deep, layered and evolved home, speaking to the senses with a reverence for life’s simple pleasures – nature, watching how the sunlight changes, reading or soaking in a big pewter tub whilst gazing into a breathtakingly beautiful garden.
The outside has a way of creeping in; lots of plants and foraged bouquets of grasses and flowers in all the rooms. A wall of trees gives a trompe l’oeil effect of a forest. It is actually a wallpaper specially commissioned from a painting by a Dutch painter Hendrik Voogt, cleverly referencing the Cape Pine trees found on the farm.
Waking up to joyous bird song and wandering onto the terrace, coffee in hand to consider the day’s plans, one is shaded from the morning sun by vine and wisteria, both over a hundred years old. You’ll find moss underfoot, left deliberately untouched because ‘we love the coolness and the patina it adds’.
Those plans could include a range of activities – there are gentle family walks or a more strenuous climb through the orchards up a hill with exhilarating views and the possibility of collecting bounty such as porcupine quills or spotting a wild buck roaming about. Spend time around the reservoir-style swimming pool in the garden or start the fire early in the boma to enjoy sundowners.Take an invigorating swim in one of three dams, one with a floating deck. There are a couple of kayaks for those who enjoy the simple pleasure of messing about in boats. Bring mountain bikes and take to the hills – the farm roads around Stellenbosch are a renowned training ground for world-class mountain bikers. Or for those seeking a more restful day, find one of the many comfortable spots from which to enjoy the splendid vistas, and after a long, lazy lunch slip into a languid siesta.
Patina Farm and Barn is a place to pause, to consider a stunning natural landscape where the spirits lift and one’s soul is restored. It is a refuge and sanctuary that enchants and surprises, where family and nature reign supreme. Â
 Planning a special celebration?
Patina’s Barn is now available for day events and smaller celebrations for a maximum of 40 guests. It’s the perfect setting for exclusive-use, sophisticated weddings as the farmhouse and garden are perfect for families to gather for a few days before and after the celebration, especially if they’re coming from abroad.Â
The Barn is a large open-plan space that can be rented separately for day events, as well as offices with two inter-linked offices, a meeting room or boardroom, an informal lounge and a small kitchenette – all housed in a restored, early twentieth-century Cape Dutch barn.
What we love!
- Head into the kitchen garden with snippers in hand to pick an array of fresh herbs in season or during December/January venture into the plum orchard to pick plums still warm from being kissed by the sun.
- One of the three dams sits just behind the house with trees that offer shade, making it the ideal spot for picnics and braais.
- For working out there is an in-house Technogym cross trainer and Unica multifunctional bench.Â
- There is a classic Rolls Royce, dubbed ‘The English Patient’, which one can hire for short excursions for up to three people.Â
- Stellenbosch, with the impressive Neo Gothic tower of the Moederkerk (Mother Church), its chic shops and oak-lined boulevards is just 3kms away.Â
- Of course this is Winelands country – one is spoilt for choice with wine estates to visit for tastings.Â
- There are a variety of superb restaurants on wine estates, including Glenelly, Tokara, Boschendal and Delaire-Graff, all within a 5 to10 minute drive.
- Franschhoek, with its art galleries and restaurants is a 25-minute drive and the bright lights, big city of Cape Town just 40 minutes away.
What you need to know…
- There is an additional self-contained and fully restored farm cottage, adjacent to the barn, with an open-plan kitchen living area, lovely open terrace overlooking the Barn as well as a small enclosed garden, a bedroom for two and a bathroom. This accommodation is available in addition to the main homestead.
- A housekeeping service is available on request.
- Catering can be arranged on request.
- If Patina Farm and Barn is already booked for your dates, browse other luxuriously comfortable Winelands homes and farms in our collection or discover other exclusive-use celebration venues in our collection.
Reviewed by Lin Sampson
Edited by Michelle Snaddon