Wildekrans Country House

13/10/2026

Reading Wendel Berry’s The Peace of Wild Things (2015) never fails to soothe and is always a good pick-me-up in these troubled global times.

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Join us on the weekends of 31 October and 07 November for our annual Elgin Open Gardens to find peace and tranquility amongst the wild things in our gardens.🌳🌴🌹🪷

Morning FYNBOS POLLINATION talks should be booked on [email protected].

09/10/2026

07/10/2026

“The Wildekrans homestead is furnished with antiques. Spacious rooms are filled with the owners’ private collection of South African art.” A writer’s take on what we call home.

Art is our first love.
More than thirty years of collecting one South African artwork each year.

Pictured here Basie Gerhardus’ Monkey with Orange, takes his seat in the lounge and Scribble, the cat, the comma matters, by Wilma Cruise has a sunny spot on the mountain facing verandah.

Visit and do our art walk.

📸 Georgia East Alison Green

07/10/2026

“The Wildekrans homestead is furnished with antiques. Spacious rooms are filled with the owners’ private collection of South African art.” A writer’s take on what we call home.

Art is our first love.
More than thirty years of collecting one South African artwork each year.

Pictured here Basie Gerhadus’ Monkey with Orange, takes his seat in the lounge and Scribble, the cat, the comma matters, by Wilma Cruise has a sunny spot on the mountain facing verandah.

Visit and do our art walk.

📸 Georgia East Alison Green

02/10/2026

FYNBOS POLLINATION- ‘not just the bees’🐝

This will be the subject of talks by The Green Mountain Trail guide, Andreas Groenewald.

At 09h00 and 10h30 on each of the four Elgin Open Garden days and for twenty peeps max per session at R100 per person.

Secure your spot via 📧[email protected]

Learn about the wasps, long tongue flies, moths, mice, monkey beetles and birds that pollinate our Cape Floral Kingdom.🐭🐞🐦

Whether you visit our gardens or attend our POLLINATION talks or do both, we look forward to seeing you here!😁

29/09/2026

Melanzane, Eggplant Parmigiana, call it what you will, is possibly our most loved dish.

Made with brinjals grown here at Wildekrans Country House and Puglia Cheese mozzarella. 🍆🧀

A couple of cooking stages and ultimately baked to crisp golden cheese, well worth the effort.😁

We follow the Australian The Australian Women’s Weekly version.

22/09/2026

2026 marks the 26th year of Elgin Open Gardens, weekends of 31 October and 7 November.📆

This year eleven gardens will be on show, including two that have not shown for some years.

A stop in Houw Hoek includes both Wildekrans Country House and neighbouring Outspan.🌴🌳🌹🌷

The Gardens of Wildekrans Country House pictured here.

Elgin Open Gardens

27/08/2026

TRAVEL & TOURS | For travellers seeking fresh air, unspoilt nature, stunning views, hikes on less-travelled paths and grounding tactile experiences - just over Sir Lowry’s Pass in the Elgin Valley, at the foot of the Groenlandberg mountains and only an hour’s drive from Cape Town, there is one such place - the 4-star graded (TGCSA) Wildekrans Country House in Houw Hoek, Elgin.

More here: https://www.konvenientmag.com/post/wildekrans-country-house-a-country-house-at-work-walk-the-land-taste-the-place

08/07/2026

Arundhati Roy’s words of wisdom “you don’t need all this information, you don’t need to know everything about everything, you need to know about the earth, your neighbours, the birds and the dogs..” - Arundhati Roy

Farmer Dave is our neighbour, we adore him. He farms apples and pears alongside Wildekrans Country House. 🍎🍐🍏

Pictured here at harvest time this January with our Riley on the left and his own Lucy on the right.🦮

02/07/2026

George Coutouvidis’ Barbara Cartland Meets Her Man, hangs in Art Room at Wildekrans Country House.
It keeps company with a 1990’s Deborah Bell ceramic from a group show she did with Robert Hodgins and William Kentridge back in the day.

The small art collection that gives this bedroom its name also includes , Hester de B**r and textile artist .

The headboard fabric is a Skinny laMinx design, a cosy room in winter with underfloor heating.

Kalk Bay Modern says of Coutouvidis, “unmistakable work which is almost exclusively oil on canvas (with some charcoal on paper) has been described as “postmodern cartoonism””. His distinctive statements, style and palette are unique and make his work highly sought after.