Cosy in a coconut A fresh take on a container conversion
Homes created from containers are nothing new, but on this guest farm they’ve been given a fresh take!
Two so-called Eco Coconuts stand with four other cottages – two Eco Pods and two Eco Cabins – around a dam on the Buff and Fellow Eco Game Farm, 10km from George Airport and near the seaside town of Glentana.
As you approach the game farm, it’s not difficult to imagine that two spacecraft have landed here and you immediately want to whip out your camera to photograph them before they take off again. Yes, says Frikkie du Toit, he wanted to create their unique shape to make them “Instagrammable”.
On a visit to Phuket in Thailand, he saw houses with a similar coconut shape and wanted to implement the idea in a South African context. He designed them himself, using second-hand shipping containers as a base, and then approached Innovative Modular Concepts (IMC) in Cape Town to execute his idea.
Three 2.4m containers were used for the lower level and three for the top level. The living area, stoep, braai area and outdoor shower are located downstairs, with two en-suite bedrooms upstairs – all with a lovely view of the dam and the Outeniqua Mountains.
The shape of the coconut was achieved by erecting a framework of horizontal steel rings around the outside, with vertical wooden strips attached to the steel afterwards. Besides adding interest to the structure, this also helps to soften the hard lines of the containers and create shade to cool them down on the inside. >>
We keep our carbon footprint as small as possible by supporting local stores and getting our fresh produce in the area. – Frikkie
First a crisis…
Frikkie says he and his sister Wilma grew up in the hospitality industry, as their parents, Pieter and Sukie, ran a 50-bedroom guesthouse in Johannesburg for many years. He and Wilma had a wedding venue in George for 10 years. “The passion for entertaining people is in our blood,” he says. “And I’ve been buying and renovating old houses in George for years. My artistic side comes from my mother – just like her, I love being creative.”
In 2019, the family was struck by adversity. Frikkie became very ill after contracting a lung virus and was, among other things, on a ventilator in intensive care for a month. After his parents arrived from Gauteng to assist him, his dad Pieter suffered a heart attack. This prompted Pieter and Sukie’s decision to “retire” and remain in the Southern Cape. Wilma moved to Gauteng to take over the guesthouse there.
Frikkie had a policy that paid out as he hadn’t been able to work for a long time, so he used that money to set up the six Buff and Fellow eco cottages on the family farm, Ultreya. >>
...and then onwards and upwards!
Since then, Pieter has been living his passion for buffalo farming. He is out and about on the tractor every day, taking care of the animals. Sukie is the chef and she is responsible for all the “meal-in-abox” options that guests can order. Frikkie is at the helm of Buff and Fellow, while also giving free rein to his creative streak in the design and décor of the units.
His goal is to not only provide a five-star experience for visitors, but also to become increasingly ecofriendly. “We recycled old containers and they were insulated so that the temperature is controlled naturally as far as possible. We use our own borehole water and are starting to use less and less energy from the national power grid; the plan is to eventually be 100% reliant on solar power.”
It’s not necessarily cheaper to convert containers into accommodation, says Frikkie. “The advantage is that there are fewer people on-site during the construction and they are only around for about 10 days as the major work is done beforehand in a warehouse in Cape Town.”
The reaction of people who come here to stay, and swim and enjoy game viewing – or just sit and take in the surroundings – is always positive, he adds. It is a taste of sweet success for the Du Toits, who created this beautiful place out of a crisis. Their farm is aptly named Ultreya, which comes from Latin and loosely means “keep going with courage”. >>