A farm stay in the beautiful Bossieveld that offers unbeatable value

Pendennis, a working fruit farm near Villiersdorp, provides rustic yet comfortable self-catering accommodation at remarkably low prices. It’s also the ideal base for exploring the area. Brian Berkman paid it a visit.

While driving in the Western Cape’s Overberg region, Paul Schumacher and his wife Dagmar were captivated by the opensky country in the Bossieveld north-east of Villiersdorp, and decided that they wanted a property in the area. At the time, he was a foreign correspondent for a major German news outlet, and she a travel-guide writer and journalist.

The couple ended up buying Pendennis, a historic farm 10km from Villiersdorp, in 1987, and settled there with their one-year-old son Max. Although Paul ran it as a working farm, it was Max, many years later, who expanded the operation to what it is today.

The climate in the Bossieveld is characterised by warm summers and cool winters, with temperatures ranging from a low of 8°C to a high of 28°C. This makes it ideal for wine grapes, stone fruit, apples and pears. The topography is dominated by the Theewaterskloof Dam and the soaring Stettyn Mountains. Tragedy struck in 2011 when Paul died suddenly, and the running of the farm became Max’s responsibility, with Dagmar focusing on the accounts.

Seeing an opportunity to add guesthouses as another income stream, Dagmar and Max converted farmworkers’ quarters into self-catering accommodation, taking much care when doing so. In addition to features such as comfortable beds, multiplugs where you want them, a powerful shower and Wi-Fi, there is a homeliness about the rooms, with their items of personal interest, artworks, photographs and collections of old books. There is no TV, an amenity unlikely to be missed.

ACCOMMODATION