ZEEKOEGAT FARM
RIVERSDALE, GARDEN ROUTE
Lovingly restored...
This is a rare opportunity to purchase Riversdale’s oldest farmstead – with beautifully restored Cape-Dutch heritage farmhouses dating from the 1700s – for sale in the heart of the Garden Route.
Lovingly restored, Zeekoegat is more than a picture-perfect rural idyll in the middle of the Garden Route. Dedicated conservation work means it is also an extraordinarily beautiful heritage estate with listed Cape-Dutch farmhouses surrounded by rich biodiversity. The current owners have poured their hearts into the restoration of the farm’s historic buildings and also into rewilding the extensive acreage to eradicate invasive aliens and reestablish its original biodiversity. The result is sheer bucolic bliss!
Between Swellendam and George and almost due north of Still Bay, Riversdale is an historic farming village tucked just off the Garden Route in the foothills of the Langeberg mountains in the Western Cape of South Africa. With the property for sale, there is now a rare opportunity for a new custodian to own this heritage farmstead that is even older than the farming town itself.
ZEEKOEGAT FARM
Riversdale, Garden Route
Seamlessly There is a tangible sense of history at Zeekoegat. The beautiful original Cape-Dutch farmstead is a listed national monument that dates back to 1746 – almost a century before the town of Riversdale itself was proclaimed in 1838 – although the date on the gable reads 1795. In its earliest days, the farm was an oasis for pioneers, with travellers replenishing here en-route inland via the Garcia Pass.Its tradition of hospitality continues to this day: the listed national monument homestead now serves as a farm guesthouse, as do several other newer countryside cottages. These are spread out for privacy and seclusion, allowing for a marvellously tranquil farm-stay experience.
The family lives in the gorgeous main farmhouse, which was built in the early 1800s and has also been fully restored. “The sweeping staircase makes for quite a grand entrance,” says the owner. “This farmhouse originally served as a school. When we restored it we removed some of the ‘improvements’ that had been implemented in the 20th-century and restored the best of the original elements,” she explains. “Its floor-plan follows a traditional Cape-Dutch U-shape with a central courtyard. This has glorious mountain views so we’ve glassed it in to make the most of that.”Back in the day the pride of Zeekoegat was its 50-metrelong shed built in 1803, South Africa’s first under-cover milking shed. The owner explains: “The story goes that the original farmer’s wife had a piano set up on the upstairs rafters so she could play for the cows! We’ve almost finished restoring it to serve as a wedding or events venue, with a honeymoon suite at one end.”
“But it’s been about restoring the land as well as the built environment,” she adds. “We’ve worked to bring back the farm’s biodiversity. A six-year project to eradicate invasive black wattle has been enormously successful. This allowed the natural palmiet vegetation to reestablish itself, which has restored the wetlands. It’s been a proper rewilding project. Our conservation research cameras have picked up otters, caracals, porcupines, honey badgers, aardvarks, civet cats, bushbuck and vervet monkeys. The birdlife is also prolific now – we even have an enormous nest of hamerkops outside the kitchen.”
Specs
• Farm size: 120 ha
• Arable land: 35 ha
• Main house: Approx 350 m²
• Circa 1820, fully restored
• 4 bedrooms (2 en suite)
• 3 bathrooms
• Lounge, dining room, family room
• Scullery and laundry
• Historic monument house: 336 m², circa 1795, fully restored
• Summer house: 64 m²
• Long Mountain Lodge: 350 m², solar system
• Historical barn: 260 m², accommodation unit, function venue, offices
• Rental cottage 1: 96 m², 3 bedrooms
• Rental cottage 2: 96 m², 3 bedrooms
• Rental cottage 3: 44 m², 1 bedroom, thatch
• Rental cottage 4: 44 m², 1 bedroom, thatch
• Horse shelter: 60 m²
• Big barn: 375 m²
• Old Shed: 144 m²
• Ablution building: 55 m²
• Yellow House: 77 m²
• Goat House: 60 m²
• Afdak steel shed: 120 m²
• 2 chicken hoks
• Bluegum shed: 140 m²
• 2 small rondavels for equipment
• 2 small cement reservoirs
• Rates: R6,500 pa
• Water:
• Gravity fed water reticulation system
• Lei water furrow system from Korenpoort dam
• 11 water tanks
• 5 dams
www.perfecthideawaysforsale.co.za
david@perfecthideaways.co.za
Call David +27 82 888 1734