LOVE A LITTLE LOCAL: The fine art of country hospitality

Love a Little Local: The fine art of country hospitality

Writer Elaine Davie

Photographer Taylum Meyer

Standing on the wide-spreading green lawns of the Stanford Valley Guest Farm, looking across the horse paddock towards the Akkedisberg Mountain range opposite, the wistful voice of Meryl Streep (as Karen Blixen in the 1985 movie Out of Africa) comes suddenly to mind: “I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills”. Although her setting was British East Africa (later Kenya), it reminded me of how deeply ingrained is the love of the land in many South Africans.

Like Elsabé Nauta, who with her husband Reinder, has owned this farm, 10 km from Stanford, since 2015. With a Huguenot pedigree stretching back to the 17th century, Elsabé grew up on the neighbouring farm, which is still owned by her brother. Her childhood memories include frequently visiting her friends on this farm which was owned by the de Kock family and as a teenager, dancing the night away on the farmhouse stoep. Although it is not certain when it was first occupied, Reinder estimates that it was probably in the early 19th century. Indeed, they recently uncovered an overgrown graveyard, containing graves dating from 1845 to 1905.

It seems certain that the original owners kept cattle, since one of the old buildings was a milking shed with a sloping stone floor and sturdy, thick walls. After they took over the farm, they also discovered a witblits still, clearly indicating one of the pre-occupations of the de Kock ancestors.

When they heard the farm was for sale in 2014, by then no longer owned by that family, Elsabé felt she had to have it back in her life. At that point it was known as the Syringa Guest Farm and, as she puts it, was what estate agents call a ‘renovator’s dream’.

And she and doctor-turned-businessman, Reinder, who were then living in Cape Town, were just that – renovators with a passion. “Both of us love beautiful things,” she says, “and we wanted to restore it to its former dignity. We wanted our guests to enjoy it as much as we do and to soak up the peace of the countryside. Of course, we could never have done it without the help of our wonderful staff, like Manager Sarah Dix, most of whom have been with us from the beginning,” she adds.

Click on the newspaper below to read more (see page 8).