Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
SURFING A NEW WAVE
Muizenberg has ditched the slump years and is attracting renewed buyer interest and top property prices after major improvements in and around this world-famous spot for riding waves
ACENTURY or so ago, Muizenberg was South Africa’s premier beach resort, and all sorts of wealthy landlords, including Sir Abe Bailey and former Cape premier Cecil John Rhodes, owned holiday houses there.
British poet Sir Rudyard Kipling visited and immortalised the long white beach – and the wind – in his verse: “White as the sand of Muizenberg, spun before the gale.”
Today Muizenberg, after some slump years, is on the up and up, and is home to perhaps South Africa’s most famous and popular surf spots – especially for beginners, or grommets (young surfers). Children as young as seven can be found on boards on Muizenberg’s waves. Surfers Circle Walk at Surfer’s Corner commemorates famous surfers such as Heather Price, who, in 1919 was the first South African to be photographed on our local waves while standing on a surfboard.
High above the suburb, along Boyes Drive, the Shark Spotters keep an eye on predators in the bay. Should a shark be seen near the bathing beach, a siren is sounded, a flag is run up the pole on the beach, and surfers and swimmers stream ashore until the danger has passed.
Older Capetonians will remember the Empire cinema opposite what used to be known as the Snake Pit, a wind-protected patch of beach behind the old Pavilion where teenagers showed off their tans.
Today the Pavilion has been replaced with a new one, and the Empire has been remodelled into sea-facing apartments along the front, flanked by a variety of restaurants offering food ranging from cheap fish ‘n chips to gourmet burgers and hearty dining.
Muizenberg does not have any malls but it does have a small shopping centre, a synagogue, several churches, a Christian radio station, a police station, a primary and a high school. It is also home to the Muizenberg campus of False Bay College.
The suburb offers a diverse choice of properties which range from old to new apartments, from fabulous historic homes in the village and on the beachfront to wonderful homes high against the mountain slopes and offering stunning views across False Bay. Property includes Sir Herbert Baker-designed mansions on the seafront to charming semis in the village area.
Even with all this, Muizenberg offers excellent value for money, says Seeff agent Bonita Lee.
“Historic village properties sells for upwards of R2.5 million for a semi and up to R3.5m-plus for a house, generally without garage or private parking,” she says.
“Beachfront properties attract young professionals and investors, with prices from R1.5m for a 50m² for a one-bed unit and from about R3.5m for a three-bedroom seaview unit.”
Marine Estate, across the Muizenberg/Zandvlei estuary, offers excellent value in accommodation, parking, garden and home size, but most houses are older, says Lee.
“Smaller three-bedroom homes sell for around R1.6m and large, dual dwellings for R2.2m-R3.5m. In rare cases, a mansion will sell for R5.5m.”
Resident Jane Eagar, who has lived in Muizenberg village with her husband, Tom Cleghorn, for 14 years, describes how the area has improved over the past decade.
“Tom bought his house when the area was still pretty skanky and there were drug dealers on every corner. He paid R140 000, and eight years later we sold it for just over R1m. We bought the north-westfacing house across the road, did it up, and now we have a lovely home with a tree, a garden, and off-street parking. We love it here.”