Property in Elgin and Villiersdorp

The ability to spot and identify an area on the up has helped many South Africans make a profit, and this is particularly true of residential properties in outlying areas and country towns.

This Villiersdorp home offers four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a built-in fireplace, a garage and double carport. It is priced at R1.3 million - click here to view.

Anyone who bought 20 years ago in Greyton in the Western Cape, Clarens in the Free State or Dullstroom in Mpumalanga, will be looking back now on a period in which the escalation on their investment far exceeded that of the average JSE Securities Exchange share.

This is according to Johan Hugo, the Rawson Property Group’s franchisee for Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, who says in the Western Cape, two areas in particular are likely to become "fashionable" and "in". - these areas are the Elgin/Grabouw area and Villiersdorp and its surrounds. 

In Elgin/Grabouw, Hugo is especially enthusiastic about the suburb of Klipkop, which, as its name implies, is a semi-rural suburb clustered around a small koppie to the south of the town centre.

Local agent, Kirsten Blumers, says this area is the upmarket, affluent part of Elgin but as yet only four to five homes are being sold here each year and though prices have started to rise, they have done so only marginally. She says the result is that it is still possible to buy a home in Klipkop for as little as R2.1 million but the majority of sales here are in the R2 million to R3 million bracket.

This eight hectare farm in Elgin offers a homestead with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, ample water and well-established crops. It is on the market for  R4.5 million - click here to view.

Klipkop’s stands tend to be large (from 2 000 square metres up to around one hectare) with most averaging around 4 000 square metres to 5 000 square metres – and the homes are usually architect designedand substantial, with established gardens and in some cases have horse paddocks and stabling.

Hugo says although only 20 minutes from Somerset West and one and a half hours from Cape Town, Klipkop is characterised by rivers, trees and well-established rock gardens. He says with its easy access to the entire Hottentots Holland mountain range and large forests, it is a hikers’ and mountain bikers’ paradise. “The Cape Epic MTB race passes through here every year and Grabouw is the most popular starting point for hikers on the Boland Trail. The town also has good schools, both state and private, although, as yet, there is no private high school. It also has several upmarket guesthouses, many of them with a four or five star grading.”

Hugo says currently on the market is a magnificent thatched roof, five bedroom home with a study and a 12 metre swimming pool. This property is tucked away in a quiet, pristine part of the valley and has an exceptionally well-maintained garden with 150 metres of river frontage and mature trees along all the boundaries and elsewhere. The size of the stand is 9 469 square metres and the building covers 600 square metres. The finishes within are of top quality.

Situated in Villiersdorp, this home has three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, an outdoor entertainment area with built-in braai, a swimming pool and garage. It is priced at R2.2 million - click here to view.

Hugo says also at Grabouw’s Klipkop Estate, there is a three bedroom home with an open-plan living/dining area and a long L-shaped veranda. The asking price for this home is R3 million. Blumers says this home is particularly well-suited stylistically to the Elgin area as it has a country farmhouse look about it.

Hugo says similar good value is also obtainable in Villiersdorp and homes in the Theewaterskloof security estate that borders and looks onto the eastern section of the huge Theewaterskloof dam, an expansive stretch of water that has led to an upsurge in power boating, water skiing, sailing and fishing throughout this area. About half the residents at the estate live and work either in Villiersdorp itself or within a 50km radius of it, and the other half, mostly Capetonians, use it as a weekend retreat. To date, 162 stands have been made available on the estate, of which 44 are vacant stands and 118 have houses on them. 

The estate alsohas its own "beach" on the dam. Houses here are, again, large (stand sizes range from 460 square metres to 2 040 square metres and floor areas from around 180 square metres to 350 square metres) and typically homes will sell in the R2.2 million to R2.5 million bracket, although some are valued at up to R4 million. 

This country-style cottage in Theewaterskloof Country Estate offers three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a double garage. It is on the market for R1.795 million - click here to view.

The fact that adherence to design guidelines has been mandatory in this estate has added greatly to its appeal and the standard of the established gardens is high, he says.

On the market in the estate is a magnificent three bedroom, single level beach-style home with two bathrooms, two garages, a wraparound balcony and a freestanding clay oven to heat the living room. The asking price is R2.25 million. Also for sale is a 750 square metre stand priced at R750 000 and a larger stand of 2 040 square metres selling at R1.2 million, which offers magnificent views.

For those wanting to get even closer to nature and possibly grow a crop of one kind or another, Villiersdorp’s surroundings offer smallholdings or farms on which one or more orchards or vineyards are already well-established: apples, pears, plums, grapes, olives, deciduous and soft fruit and, in a few cases, cereals. Smallholdings in this area are usually in the price range of R4 million to R40 million.

One such property is an 11 hectare farm on which several hectares are devoted to protea growth for the export marketand where two boreholes offer pristine water supply. Also grown on this well-wateredfarm are almonds, figs, apricots, apples and Hanepoort grapes.

“With information technology systems so sophisticated, it is possible for many people to work from home two or three days a week. This is one factor making these areas popular, another is simply that many middle class people today are opting out of difficult urban situations for a safer, more pleasant country experience. Both Elgin and Villiersdorp are near-perfect for those who want an away-from-it-all lifestyle.”