Characterful 19th century Paarl farmhouse could be the buy of the year

Many South Africans who are conscious of their country’s past and proud of its architectural history traditionally hanker after a solid, thick walled Cape farmhouse style home of the kind that were the standard accommodation for many of the country’s affluent citizens in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Today these come onto the market fairly rarely but when they do, says 

Lizette Joubert, franchisee for the Rawson Property Group in Paarl (a town which has more than its fair share of such homes), it is always something of a property event – and considerable interest is always engendered among buyers throughout the country.

That is what is happening now with regard to one such home which has come to the market in Paarl’s Lemoenkloof area — the home, says Hesdarie Uys, the Rawson Property Group’s Paarl agent handling it, is thought to have been built in about 1870 and still has many of the features and fittings of a large 19th century farmhouse – Oregon pine floors, a cast iron fireplace in the living room, small pane and sliding sash windows, wooden ceilings and a long voorstoep which overlooks a vineyard.

The home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two garages and a garden (in good condition).  The building’s layout is U-shaped and therefore encloses the swimming pool and gives it great privacy.  It also offers spectacular vineyard views from the kitchen windows.

One of this home’s major advantages, said Uys, is that it is within walking distance of Paarl Gymnasium High School and within 1,5 km from the centre of Paarl.

Joubert has pointed out that a home of this quality (and one so abundantly full of character) would easily achieve a price of R6 million in the central Cape Peninsula suburbs, but here the price has been set at R2,750,000.

“Time and again,” she said, “we have urged buyers who want the Platteland lifestyle and who expect to pay ‘a reasonable price’ for their home to look at what is on offer in Paarl.  While it is true that stock here is in short supply, nevertheless in general the value obtainable in Paarl is still exceptional – and the lifestyle it offers is completely unbeatable.”