This Victorian home on 2 200 m2 erf in the historic heart of Swellendam is for sale through Pam Golding Properties at R2.5 million.
The Overberg town of Swellendam is abuzz as it prepares for the annual Canola Karnaval – a festival celebrating the town’s wealth of local produce, exciting outdoor activities and historical heritage.
The event will be held from August 6 to 8, and is expected to draw crowds of visitors to the picturesque town at the foot of the Langeberg mountains, halfway between Cape Town and George.
Many South Africans may know the town only as a blur passed on the N2 highway while driving from Cape Town to the Garden Route, but they’re missing out if they’ve never taken the detour into town, says Pam Golding Properties’ area manager, Le Roux van der Merwe.
“This town offers a lifestyle of immense natural beauty, healthy outdoor exertions, safety and security – a true escape from the rat-race, and a wonderful place to retire or raise a family,” he says.
Van der Merwe says there is a wide variety of reasonably-priced homes on offer in the town. Prices start from R700 000, which will secure a small cottage in need of some renovation.
“You can still buy a neat three-bedroom home for under R1 million,” he says, “and a larger family home with a garden and a double garage will cost from R1.3 million to R3 million. Prices vary according to location, but are also influenced tremendously by a property’s views and general charm.”
Given Swellendam’s rich history (the town is the third oldest magisterial settlement in South Africa), van der Merwe says it’s not surprising that there is particularly high demand from investors for heritage-style homes in the central historic area of town. This encompasses the section from the national monument the Moederkerk, on the main thoroughfare of Voortrek Street, stretching eastwards to the Drostdy Museum complex, which dates back to 1747.
PGP’s MD for the Boland and Overberg regions, Annien Borg, says the town has bilingual primary and high schools as well as a private college for children with learning problems, and permission has also been granted for the building of an additional primary school in the town.
“Swellendam has its own doctors, dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists, some of them practising from the recently refurbished government hospital in the town. Specialists and private medical care are available in Worcester, about an hour’s drive away. There are two grocery stores in town plus several smaller shops, all capable of meeting residents’ day-to-day needs, and major shopping is available in Worcester or Somerset West. Planning approval has also been obtained for a new 15 000 m2 shopping centre on the edge of town, with building expected to start later this year.”
Swellendam is surrounded by the Bontebok National Park, the De Hoop Nature Reserve and the Marloth Nature Reserve, with hiking and mountain-bike trails. The surrounding farmlands include canola, berry estates and orchards. There is also watersports activities on the Breede River and Buffeljachts Dam, and local clubs cater for sports enthusiasts from clay pigeon shooting to tennis, squash and rugby. Swellendam also has a growing population of entrepreneurs, many of them involved in arts, crafts and potteries, or in the hospitality industry - the town has a number of guest houses and restaurants run by German, Belgian and Dutch nationals, giving a distinct international flavour to Swellendam cuisine.
In the past nine months, PGP’s agents have sold several historic homes, including the Oude Pastorie, a Victorian parsonage on 2 000 m2, built in 1907, which was sold for R4.8 million. The Augusta de Mist guesthouse was sold for R4.3 million and the Roosje van de Kaap, a 10-bed country inn with an award-winning restaurant on site, was sold for R5.3 million.
Call Jenny Whittle on 073 386 1824 or Lynette Badenhorst on 082 482 0349.
