On top OF THE WORLD

Combining their landscaping and engineering skills, the Kosters created an off-the-grid family home in harmony with nature with a spectacular view as a bonus!

- Mary Jane Harris

Turning off the road from Pretoria, through a gate kindly left open for us, feels like leaving civilisation behind. Because the Koster family's home boasts no ordinary address.

Ahead is a steep incline with a road carved through prehistoric-looking rock formations. At intervals, cairns indicate that we are on the right track. Around a corner, we catch a glimpse of a roof through the rocks at the top of a cliff- and this is just the start of the last 600m to the Kosters' off-the-grid home.

It's a challenge, this final stretch, but 10 minutes later we arrive - and the view is spectacular! Looking back to the gate at the turn-off, it's a relief to have arrived at our destination. And although it took us a few nerve-racking minutes, the Kosters' journey to this property was far more convoluted, much more challenging, and took a lot longer.

"We wanted to live somewhere where we could breathe clean air, drink clean water and eat organic food that we could grow ourselves without pesticides or chemicals," explains Nandi, a landscape architect who runs her own company, Yacula & Jones.

But finding the right property wasn't easy and took some time. "We explored the countryside using Google Earth, searched online for suitable properties, and travelled miles with estate agents before we found this plot," recalls Karel, an electronic engineer. "I wanted to land that was pristine. I didn't want anything with an existing house or any alien vegetation. Initially, the previous owners of this property weren't keen to sell, but we persisted - and here we are."