Back To School

A desire for the simple life inspired this creative couple to buy a run-down schoolhouse in the platteland – and what a learning curve it’s been!

- Frieda le Roux

Back in 2010 when Stanley Cornelius and Candice Theunissen went away for their first weekend as a couple, they played a game while exiting the city: at each crossing in the road, they took turns choosing to go either left, right or straight ahead – and ended up in picturesque Tulbagh in the Boland.

As luck would have it, some years later they stumbled across a derelict old farm school in the same beautiful valley – they now consider this their home away from home.

“We wanted to create a getaway where we could one day live permanently,” says Candice. “We both experience a lot of stress and needed to find a way to keep it under control.

“In August 2014, after a search of almost 18 months, we got an urgent call about a ‘rustic, needs TLC property’ in Wolseley and had less than 24 hours’ notice to view it and make an offer!

“We arrived in a rural setting 100km from Cape Town – and the mountains were ‘on fire’ with sunset colours. Nature really helped distract us from the dire condition of the house. But the gorgeous Oregon pine floors, industrial steel windows and friendly – but leaking – red tin roof won our hearts.”

So the couple made an offer, it was accepted – and work could begin.

Before the renovation, Stanley and Candice owned a “cheap, basic drill for putting up picture frames”. Now, they’re seasoned DIYers with a project planned for every weekend they spend at their hideout. “Occasionally, bigger projects take longer than just a weekend, such as the outdoor shower or the new braai area, and there’s always something that has to be finished before we head home to Table View,” says Candice.

The call of the platteland