The luxury golf estate built on one of the oldest farms in South Africa

The Steenberg luxury golf estate, situated at the foot of Oukaapse Weg in Cape Town, is built on South Africa’s oldest registered farm.

The piece of land was established by a German immigrant named Catherina Ustings Ras in 1682.

Ras was given a lease “to cultivate, plough, to sow, and to possess” the land by Simon van der Stel, who was the Governor of the Cape Colony at the time.

She called the farm Zwaanswyk, meaning the feeding place of the swans, believed to reference her hometown of Lubeck in Germany.

She had first arrived in the Cape only ten years after Jan van Riebeeck had landed, on a voyage where 25 people had died and 50 had fallen ill with scurvy.

After four marriages since arriving and having learnt the ropes of running a farm business, she was eventually given the official deed to the Steenberg property in 1688.

This was the same year Van der Stel founded Groot Constantia just around the corner, which is South Africa’s oldest wine farm at 337 years old.

Ras then sold the property to Frederick Russouw in 1695, who planted the first grape vines on the estate and made the first wines.

After Russouw passed away, his widow, Christina Diemer, continued to run the farm, turning it into a profitable business once demand for supplies increased.

This followed the Dutch East India Company’s establishment of an official winter port in Simon’s Bay.

The farm was also a mid-point between Table Bay and Simon’s Bay, making it an ideal halfway house for travellers.

By 1735, Diemer had planted over 30,000 vines, and the farm remained in the family for the next 100 years. It was eventually sold to Johannes Adrian Louw, one of Diemer’s grandsons’ brothers-in-law, in 1842.

The Louws held on to ownership of the farm for the next 150 years, continuing to reap the benefits of the crops planted decades before.

In 1983, the farm’s homestead was declared a national monument.

It was eventually sold to Johannesburg Consolidated Investments in 1990, which built a hotel and an 18-hole golf course on the land.

The old manor House on the property, complete with the traditional Cape Dutch gable design, along with the barn and original wine cellar, was developed into a 24-suite five-star hotel.

After an initial phase of development, South African business magnate Graham Beck bought the farm in 2005 through his Kanga Group.

Over 300 years later

Today, nestled in the suburb of Constantia, the wine farm is among some of the most luxurious resort estates the Cape has to offer.

While there are private residences within the estate, the supply is limited, with only 225 homes having been built to date.

There are currently four four-bedroom houses listed on Property24, ranging in price from R19 million to R30 million.

The championship golf course, designed by Peter Matcovitch, features a hybrid plan and the largest green in Africa at 76 meters in length.

It also utilises natural features and hazards, such as vineyards, pine forests, and waterways.

Other attractions within the estate include the championship golf course, the hotel, spa, and two award-winning restaurants: Tryn and Bistro Sixteen82.

Guests at the hotel have a range of suites to choose from, starting with the classic rooms, all the way up to a three-bedroom villa.

Residents and guests also have access to cycling and running trails to explore the 300-hectare farm.

The wine farm produces over 40,000 cases per year, with a maximum capacity of 70,000 cases.

Seventy per cent of the 59.5 hectares of vineyards are white grapes, most of which are Sauvignon Blanc and the rest Semillon.

There are also several red varieties, which include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Malbec. The farm is one of the few to grow the red Italian variety Nebbiolo.

The farm’s wines have also won several awards over the years, including earning over 90 points in several Tim Atkin South Africa Reports and earning silver at the Decanter World Wine Awards.

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