Spirited Away

Spend long enough in this Franschhoek private guest villa’s garden of secret nooks, paths and vine-cloaked arches, and you might believe you’ve spotted a sylph.

- Catriona Ross

From Dirkie Uys Street, you’d never guess what lies behind the sedate 1872 thatched house. ‘It’s at the back that the magic happens,’ says Wayne McLachlan, manager of La Rive villa in Franschhoek in the Western Cape. The cool, old Cape interior opens onto an enchanting garden anchored by a rectangular pool. Star jasmine, double wisteria, potato vine and climbing Iceberg roses ramble over pillars, arches and walls; winding paths lead to hidden nooks, benches and burbling water features; small sculptures, gentle and childlike in spirit, suggest the presence of the fey.

Peaking during its first flush of roses from late October, the garden is a romantic landscape of pastel colour and filigree foliage, designed by landscaper Gillian Gage in a ‘labour of love’ after the property was purchased in 1993. During the house renovations, the worst flood in 40 years sent a torrent of water down the garden’s natural slope, directly through the house (fortunately the furniture hadn’t been moved in). To minimise flooding, a reinforced wall was built at the back, low mounds were created on the lawn to divert water unobtrusively into the river flowing down the side of the property, selected flower beds were raised and, ingeniously, 10 French drains were installed around the pool – square pits containing wire trays filled with gravel, with barrels for planting positioned on top.