A Special Place

Even though Retha Alberts no longer lives in the old farmstead on Le Domaine, it lies close to her heart.

- By Marié Brody. Photographs by Jeandri Streicher

WHERE Rawsonville

SIZE OF GARDEN 1 ha

TYPE OF SOIL Loamy and sandy

When you drive through Le Domaine's gate and see the farmhouse and old oak trees, you know why Retha Alberts can't bear to sell this property.

We put so much into this place, she says. “It was a dream of mine and my husband Kobus's that became a reality. We had always wanted to move from the city to the platteland and to transform the house and garden into what it is today - it was like turning our own Cinderella into a princess. The loving makeover was very meaningful and satisfying for us. And waking up there in the morning to the sound of the bubbling stream and the birds singing was indescribably wonderful.

We bought the smallholding, surrounded by vineyards and with a view of the Slanghoek Mountains, in 2004. We then set about revamping the house and laying out the garden, bit by bit.

Back then, all the garden had was a barbed wire fence, old oak trees (some of which had blown over), and a perennial stream running through the back. We tackled the transformation slowly but surely.

Sadly, Kobus passed away in 2011 and Retha temporarily moved to Muscat in Oman two years later for work. Since then, the farmhouse has been rented out.

Indigenous forest