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The farm’s red cattle grazing a green pasture in the valley, with wooded hills behind.

Farm stay

A farm stay in the Western Cape

Ask about your dates

Stonehouse Lodge is a working 70 ha family farm on the Goukou River near Stilbaai, about four hours from Cape Town, where guests stay in self-catering houses among Rooi-poenskop cattle, sheep, horses, game and 30 hectares of olives. Children collect eggs and feed the calves; adults walk the orchard and fish the bass dam.

A working farm, not a theme

Alison Bryant bought the farm in 2005 after spotting it from a boat on the Goukou, and has spent twenty years making it what it is. It runs a herd of Rooi-poenskop cattle, Dorper and Damara sheep, Koekoek hens, horses, turkeys and peacocks. Springbok, bushbuck and bontebok share the game-fenced land, and duiker, grysbok and angulate tortoises live in the bush.

The olive grove went in during 2008 and now covers 30 hectares with more than 5,000 trees. The olives are hand picked each winter, between May and June, and pressed on the farm into a single-estate extra virgin olive oil.

What a farm day looks like

Children collect eggs from the hens, feed the calves, chickens, turkeys and hand-reared lambs and meet the horses; experienced riders can ride. There is a trampoline, table tennis, a foofy slide over the dam and a river to canoe on.

Adults hike from the river up towards Riethuiskraal through the indigenous canyons, ride the farm tracks and gravel roads, fish the bass dam catch-and-release, or simply sit on the veranda and watch the bushbuck come out at dusk.

Getting here

From Cape Town take the N2 past Riversdale (about 340 km). Turn right onto the R305 towards Stilbaai. After 19 km turn right onto the Spuithoek gravel road. After 1.3 km the Stonehouse Lodge gates are on your left. The drive from Cape Town takes about four hours, and George Airport is about two hours east.

Photographs

See for yourself

  • Red cattle and a calf on the green pasture, the river and hills beyond.
    Rooi-poenskop cattle and calves
  • Two bontebok facing each other on green grass on the farm.
    Bontebok on the farm
  • Springbok grazing a pasture beyond a farm gate, milkwoods and bush on the slope behind.
    Springbok
  • A palomino and a bay horse looking over the white paddock fence.
    The horses
  • A peacock with its tail fanned in front of the stone stables, a peahen beside it.
    A peacock by the stables
  • The farm’s Australian shepherd with the sheep at the water trough by the paddock fence.
    Sheep and the sheepdog
  • A grass track between rows of olive trees in the Stonehouse orchard, under a blue sky.
    The olive grove
  • A heap of freshly picked black olives from the Stonehouse orchard.
    Hand-picked olives

Good to know

Questions

Is Stonehouse Lodge a working farm?

Yes. It runs cattle, sheep, hens and horses and grows 30 hectares of olives, which are pressed on the farm.

Can children help on the farm?

Yes. Children collect eggs and feed the calves, chickens, turkeys and hand-reared lambs.

How far is the farm from Cape Town?

About 340 km, roughly four hours on the N2.

Ask about your dates

Tell Alison when you would like to come and how many of you there are. 5% off when you book direct.

Send a booking requestEnquire now

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