Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
A slice of paradise in the Boland
With its famed gardens, imaginative tours, luxurious cottages and restorative tranquillity, all set against a beautiful mountain backdrop, Babylonstoren is everything a getaway should be, says Brian Berkman.
Karen Roos, owner of renowned Babylonstoren farm, was once the editor of Elle Decoration magazine, and it was the skills she honed in this media environment that helped her create an exceptional lifestyle destination. So much so, that Babylonstoren’s renowned gardens, which nestle at the foot of the Simonsberg in the Franschhoek wine valley, have become the second-most-visited in South Africa, after Kirstenbosch.
OLIVES, WINE AND VINEGAR
Babylonstoren, which has been in operation for 10 years, offers numerous activities. One of its latest is the olive and balsamic vinegar tour, which includes a tasting. Franco September, one of the more than 300 staff members on the farm, is a tour guide who walks guests through the process from olive to oil.
While free for residential guests, day visitors are welcome at R200/person, which includes a blend-your-own olive oil kit for home use. The olive- and olive oil-tasting experience includes a walkabout through the olive production plant and press. Following the Italian tradition of making balsamic vinegar, barrels of different volumes are used to age this condiment. The balsamic vinegar cellar is adjacent to a high-tech juicing and water-bottling plant where fresh produce is cold-pressed and their juices preserved.
Wines, too, comprise a substantial commercial activity at Babylonstoren. The farm has about 160ha under vineyards and produces four white varieties, one rosé, four reds and one Méthode Cap Classique.
A FEAST FOR THE SENSES
The gardens at Babylonstoren cover 3,5ha and were laid out with the help of French architect Patrice Taravella. In all, there are 15 sections, including orchards, vegetable patches, berries, bees, fragrant indigenous plants, ducks and chickens, a prickly pear maze to wander through, spectacular clivia, and trees of historical or botanical significance. The garden was inspired by the original design of The Company’s Garden in Cape Town and has more than 300 varieties of plants, mostly with edible or medicinal value.
Thirteen olive varieties are grown on the farm, and citrus and plums are produced for export. During Farmer’s Weekly’s June visit, the citrus trees were heavy with Tango and Satsuma mandarins. The plum orchards, which cover about 15ha, include African Rose, Suplum 25, Black Pearl and African Delight cultivars.
A number of trees in the garden are said to have grown from cuttings of famous originals; they include the Witte Wijnappel, the first apple tree recorded and picked in South Africa on 17 April 1662; Shakespeare’s mulberry tree; and Newton’s Flower of Kent apple tree.
In the Scented Room, guests are surrounded by fragrances emanating from soaps, oils and creams. Hotel guests are invited to experience the essential oils tour, where floral buds from the farm are distilled, capturing the steam and condensing it into essential oil.
THE DAILY GARDEN, FARM AND FACILITY TOURS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DAY VISITORS
There is an open invitation to residential guests to participate in any of the activities on the farm, from bread-baking to fruitpicking and a mountain drive for sundowners up the slopes of Simonsberg. Various garden, farm and facility tours are also available for day visitors.
ACCOMMODATION
All accommodation forms part of the Babylonstoren’s Farm Hotel. Some is within the precinct, which also houses the superb Babel Restaurant, where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served; while newer accommodation, such as the Fynbos Cottages, are a few hundred metres from the heart of the estate. A golf cart and bicycles are supplied at each cottage.
The cottages, all generously sized and with Babylonstoren signature glass-cube kitchens, are equipped with top-notch appliances. Nearby is a heated eco swimming pool and spa jets. An elegant garden-room lounge and honour bar are located next to the pool.
Babylonstoren also has two family houses. The first is the newly constructed Fynbos Family House, which is built around a private courtyard, with a pool at its centre. It is designed for 10 guests accommodated in five en-suite bedrooms, each with a fireplace.
The second, the Cape Dutch Manor House, dates back to 1777 and is within the main complex, near Babel and the farm shops. This exclusive-use house also has five bedrooms for up to 10 guests. Its interior has been restored to its traditional elegance, but with contemporary sensibility.
FYNBOS COTTAGES
Farmer’s Weekly was billeted in a one-bedroom Fynbos Cottage. The real advantage of these cottages is their distance from the popular main gardens and buildings.
While minimally decorated, they are supremely comfortable and highly contemporary, with a farm-style look: a high roof with exposed timber beams; thick, whitewashed walls; and that classic, gooseneck outside light with its enamel shade. There are also references to nature inside: a rough-hewn kitchen table with bench seats and contemporary furniture, reminiscent of riempie chairs; and woven cane furniture, but in new materials.
The vast marble-tiled bathrooms feature free-standing oval tubs as centrepieces, a cross between something you’d find in a Victorian hospital with a Japanese timber soaking tub.
If another establishment has done as much to elevate the role of the grower and gardener to consumer hero by providing so many touch points that celebrate the process, Farmer’s Weekly has yet to visit it.
Visit babylonstoren.com.