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A wide bend of the Goukou River between green hills under a grey sky, reeds along the near bank.

Gallery

The farm in pictures

The three houses, the river, the animals and the olive orchard.

Stonehouse Lodge

The stone and thatch main house, its veranda, the shared pool and the view over the Goukou valley.

  • Stonehouse Lodge from the lawn: a thatched stone house with dormer windows, a long covered veranda and a garden path to the steps.
  • A rope hammock slung between the stone pillars of the Stonehouse Lodge veranda, with green hills and late sun beyond.
  • The long covered veranda of Stonehouse Lodge: stone pillars, a reed ceiling and loungers looking over the valley.
  • The thatched front of Stonehouse Lodge with its stone chimney, wrap-around veranda and flowering garden.
  • The Stonehouse lounge with a fire burning in a stone fireplace, leather sofas and paintings on the stone wall.
  • The Stonehouse lounge under a thatch and pole ceiling, with leather sofas, a TV and windows onto the garden.
  • The wooden bar counter and bar stools inside Stonehouse Lodge, with fishing trophies on the walls.
  • The Stonehouse kitchen with a wooden ceiling, double sink, tall fridge and a pantry cupboard.
  • The king-size four-poster master bedroom at Stonehouse Lodge, with a bedside lamp and terracotta floor.
  • A four-poster bed under the thatch ceiling at Stonehouse Lodge, with towels folded on the bed and windows onto the farm.
  • A bedroom at Stonehouse Lodge with a wooden four-poster bed, folded towels, a reading lamp and windows onto the veranda.
  • A loft bedroom under the sloping thatch at Stonehouse Lodge, with a window seat at the far end.
  • The pool table on the upper landing of Stonehouse Lodge, beneath the thatch beams.
  • The swimming pool on the lawn below Stonehouse Lodge, with loungers beside it and the hills behind.
  • One of the farm’s Australian shepherds beside the Stonehouse Lodge pool, the thatched house behind.
  • The thatched facade of Stonehouse Lodge near Stilbaai, with its tall stone chimney and dormer windows above the garden.
  • A curving stone-edged path through the lawn to Stonehouse Lodge, half hidden behind a tree in full leaf.
  • The entrance to Stonehouse Lodge framed by aloes, palms and a stone wall.
  • The gravel drive past Stonehouse Lodge and its pool, looking out over the green valley.

White House Cottage

The 1920 farmhouse, room by room, with the shared pool beside it and its covered veranda.

  • White House Cottage, the 1920 farmhouse: a single-storey white house with a grey roof and a lawn in front.
  • White House Cottage, the 1920 farmhouse, behind young olive trees on its gravel forecourt.
  • The covered veranda of White House Cottage with a red timber ceiling, a dining table and a view of the river.
  • The shared swimming pool beside White House Cottage, with loungers, a stone braai chimney and milkwood trees.
  • The White House lounge and dining room with a crystal chandelier, an open fireplace and a dining table by the window.
  • The White House Cottage lounge: a stone hearth stacked with wood, a chandelier and the dining table beyond.
  • The indoor braai in the stone fireplace of White House Cottage, with the lounge sofa and a door out to the garden.
  • The White House Cottage dining room: a table for six under a crystal chandelier, beside the stone fireplace.
  • The wooden dining table at White House Cottage, with the lounge and an open door through to a bedroom.
  • The TV room and lounge at White House Cottage, with two sofas and a flat-screen TV.
  • The White House kitchen: white cupboards, black counters, a gas hob and oven, and windows over the garden.
  • The full White House Cottage kitchen: double-door fridge, white cupboards, dark counters and a window over the garden.
  • The White House Cottage kitchen and its window.
  • The White House Cottage kitchen with a gas hob and oven, and the stable door out to the braai area.
  • The gas hob, oven and kettle in the White House Cottage kitchen.
  • The sunroom at White House Cottage, with sun on the tiled floor and the door open to the garden.
  • The White House Cottage sunroom with easy chairs and a daybed, the garden through the windows.
  • Master bedroom 1 at White House Cottage: a king-size bed and a glass door straight onto the veranda.
  • The en-suite master bedroom at White House Cottage, with a door straight out onto the veranda.
  • The walk-in shower of the master en-suite at White House Cottage, with a mosaic tile strip.
  • Master bedroom 2 at White House Cottage, with its own en-suite and an old Victorian brass bed.
  • The master en-suite bathroom at White House Cottage, with a bath and a glass door to the veranda.
  • The second en-suite bedroom at White House Cottage, with a brass-and-iron bed and grey linen.
  • A brass-and-iron double bed with grey linen and bedside lamps at White House Cottage.
  • A family bedroom at White House Cottage with a double bed and single beds under a ceiling fan.
  • The family room at White House Cottage: a white iron double bed and a single bed under a ceiling fan.
  • Two white iron single beds and a chest of drawers in the White House Cottage family room.
  • The light-filled entrance room at White House Cottage, with a single bed by the windows.
  • A tiled en-suite bathroom at White House Cottage with a walk-in shower.
  • The outdoor atrium at White House Cottage: a picnic table under a big old tree, with a stone-walled garden bed.
  • The gravel approach to White House Cottage, with palms and aloes beside the house.

Grysbok Cottage

The three-bedroom cottage over the dam.

  • Grysbok Cottage behind a garden of aloes, palms and indigenous shrubs.

Animals

Rooi-poenskop cattle, sheep and lambs, free-range hens, horses, springbok, bontebok, gemsbok, peacocks and the farm dogs.

  • The farm’s red cattle grazing a green pasture in the valley, with wooded hills behind.
  • Red cattle and a calf on the green pasture, the river and hills beyond.
  • A red cow grazing the green pasture beneath a big milkwood tree on the Stonehouse farm.
  • Red Rooi-poenskop cattle at the paddock gate, with fynbos in the foreground.
  • A young red Rooi-poenskop calf standing on the farmhouse lawn.
  • Sheep grazing in a fenced pasture in golden evening light, with milkwood trees behind.
  • The farm’s Australian shepherd with the sheep at the water trough by the paddock fence.
  • A ewe and her lamb at the paddock trough, with one of the farm sheepdogs looking on.
  • Free-range hens and a rooster scratching in the farmyard.
  • A palomino and a bay horse looking over the white paddock fence.
  • A palomino and a bay horse side by side at the paddock fence.
  • A grey horse leaning over the paddock rail, the stables and blue sky behind.
  • The white horse standing under a tree beside the paddock post.
  • A bay horse grazing beside the white paddock fence, with a grey horse behind it.
  • A chestnut horse grazing in the paddock under a cloudy sky, milkwoods along the fence line.
  • A bay horse with a fly mask resting at the paddock fence in the shade.
  • Springbok grazing a pasture beyond a farm gate, milkwoods and bush on the slope behind.
  • Springbok in a fenced green pasture on the farm, with dense coastal bush behind.
  • Two bontebok facing each other on green grass on the farm.
  • Gemsbok (oryx) grazing in the fynbos veld on the farm.
  • A small antelope grazing beside the paddock fence under a tree.
  • One of the farm peacocks with its tail fanned out in full display.
  • A peacock with its tail fanned in front of the stone stables, a peahen beside it.
  • Peacocks on the farm road by the white paddock fence in the evening.
  • The farm pot-bellied pig eating from a red bowl on the lawn.
  • Two Australian shepherd dogs on the back of a farm bakkie outside a stone outbuilding.
  • A farm dog crossing the dewy lawn at sunrise, long shadows on the grass.
  • The farm’s two Australian shepherds sitting on the reedy bank of the Goukou in golden evening light.

Fynbos and flora

Red aloes in flower above the wetland, milkwoods, indigenous gardens and the fynbos at the edge of the orchard.

  • Red aloes in flower on the farm, with a wetland pond and the flat-topped hills of the valley behind.
  • Red aloes in flower above the farm wetland, with the flat-topped hills of the Goukou valley behind.
  • A wide view over flowering red aloes to the wetland pond and the flat-topped hills.
  • Pink daisies and aloes on the bank above the dam, with green pasture and the Langeberg foothills in evening light.
  • The entrance to Stonehouse Lodge framed by aloes, palms and a stone wall.
  • A single olive tree among rocks and fynbos at the edge of the orchard.
  • A white farmhouse on the slope above the farm dam, reed beds and aloes in front and sunlit hills behind.

Around the farm

The gate, the lawns, the riverside lapa and braai, and the farm through the years.

  • The stone braai chimney and riverside lapa area on the lawn above the Goukou, under a blue sky.
  • Cast-iron potjie pots cooking over the fire in the stone braai.
  • Coals glowing red under the grid of the stone braai.
  • A wooden sign reading "Nou gaan ons braai-ant" above the stone braai.
  • The farm gate under a stone and timber archway at the end of the gravel road.
  • Looking out through the thatched farm gatehouse down the gravel drive to the hills.
  • A fiery sunset over the farm lawn and cottages, the hills dark against the sky.
  • A fire burning in the firepit on the river lawn at dusk, the wooded hills dark behind.
  • The firepit on the lawn beside the Goukou, a canoe and one of the farm dogs nearby.
  • The 70-ton bulldozer and ripper that opened up the soil for the olive orchard in 2008.

The Goukou River and the dam

The jetty and slipway above the sandbanks, the kayaks, the gorge upriver and the bass dam.

  • The farm’s two kayaks pulled up on the riverbank, ready to launch from the jetty.
  • The Goukou River from the farm jetty: a boat moored alongside, blue water and wooded hills.
  • The Goukou River at sunset, the pink and orange sky mirrored on still water between dark wooded banks.
  • The Goukou at sunset, still as glass and mirroring the wooded hills.
  • The farm jetty on the Goukou River with a speedboat tied up and reeds on the bank.
  • The wooden jetty on the water, with clouds and blue sky reflected around it.
  • The wooden walkway through the reeds down to the farm jetty.
  • The floating pontoon among the reeds on the Goukou, below the wooded far bank.
  • The lawn and reed beds on the Goukou river bank, a canoe pulled up on the grass.
  • A small boat moored in the reeds at the edge of the Goukou River.
  • The Goukou at dusk, the still water reflecting the reeds and the pink sky.
  • A wide bend of the Goukou River between green hills under a grey sky, reeds along the near bank.
  • Low sun over the Goukou in the evening, the wooded far bank in silhouette and its reflection on the water.
  • The Goukou River between thickly wooded banks under a bright sky.
  • Morning sun sparkling on the Goukou River, the wooded hills on the far bank.
  • Heading upriver by boat into the wooded gorge of the Goukou.
  • Evening in the wooded gorge of the Goukou, upriver from the farm.
  • Dusk on the Goukou upriver, a wooded hill reflected in the water.
  • Looking down the Goukou from a boat on a cloudy day, wooded slopes on both banks.
  • The Goukou River and its hills seen from a boat, the water silver under the clouds.
  • An Australian shepherd sitting on the farm jetty, the Goukou and wooded hills behind.
  • A farm dog on the jetty looking out over the Goukou at dusk.
  • The two farm dogs on the terrace looking over the Goukou River and the hills.
  • An Australian shepherd lying on the lawn beside the Goukou River in the sun.
  • The farm dogs playing on the lawn above the river.
  • A panorama of the farm wetland at dusk under a pink sky, the white cottage at the edge.
  • The sun setting behind the hills over the farm pasture and pond.
  • Sunrise over the farm dam, the low sun bright above the hills.
  • A bass held up against the evening sky over the farm dam.
  • A bass held up against the dusk sky over the farm dam.
  • A bass held over the farm dam, with reeds and hills on the far bank.

Olive estate

Thirty hectares and more than 5,000 trees, planted in 2008 and pressed on the farm.

  • A grass track between rows of olive trees in the Stonehouse orchard, under a blue sky.
  • Green olives ripening on a branch in the Stonehouse orchard.
  • Olive branches heavy with small green fruit in the Stonehouse orchard.
  • A heap of freshly picked black olives from the Stonehouse orchard.
  • A single olive tree among rocks and fynbos at the edge of the orchard.
  • Rows of olive trees in the Stonehouse grove under a blue sky with high cloud.
  • Young olive trees along a grassy avenue in the Stonehouse orchard under a cloudy sky.
  • A long row of olive trees in the orchard, the Goukou valley hills on the horizon.
  • Olive trees backlit by the winter morning sun during the harvest.
  • Close-up of silver-green olive leaves on young branches.
  • A farm track running past olive trees in the orchard under a grey sky.
  • Planting one of the first olive trees in the Stonehouse orchard in 2008.
  • A one-litre tin of Stonehouse Lodge extra virgin olive oil, hand picked and pressed on the farm, standing on a rock.

Stilbaai and the coast

The estuary, the river mouth and the beaches 10 to 15 minutes from the farm.

  • Aerial view of Stilbaai and the mouth of the Goukou River meeting the Indian Ocean.
  • The sun going down over the Goukou estuary wetlands, the channels mirroring a gold sky.
  • The sun going down over the Goukou estuary, the channels and reeds lit gold.
  • A gold sunset reflected in a channel of the Goukou estuary near Stilbaai.
  • The sun setting over the reed marsh and channels of the Goukou, with clouds lit gold.
  • The sun setting over the sea at Stilbaai.
  • A tidal pool and rocky limestone shore on the Stilbaai coast.
  • A lone milkwood tree on a coastal lawn above the sea at Stilbaai.
  • Dogs running on the wide sandy beach at Stilbaai at low tide.
  • A wet Australian shepherd among the rock pools on the Stilbaai shore.
  • Storm clouds and a pink evening sky over the sea off Stilbaai.

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