The Garden House
Garden in Franschhoek

Built around 1881 with views over the Valley it is set in a beautiful garden with a pool big enough to swim in. Although it's less than a 15 minute safe and easy walk to Franschhoek's shops and many of its best restaurants, The Garden House is very quiet and private. Most of our guests stay in The Cottage which is separated from the main house by a shaded courtyard so we all have our privacy. It has a spacious bedroom with warm and cool air conditioning, a ceiling fan, fridge with complimentary soft drinks and beers, radio, TV and DVD player with a selection of interesting films, tea and coffee making facilities, hair dryer and safe. In the large en suite bathroom there is a bath, separate shower, dressing gowns and under floor heating. From mid-October to mid-April, guests may stay in a pretty little room in the main house. It has en suite facilities with the shower over the bath, dressing gowns, tea and coffee making facilities and a fridge with complimentary soft drinks and beers. From October to mid-April guests enjoy the lovely valley views from the veranda of the main house with a breakfast of home-made muesli, yogurt and berries in season and seasonal fresh fruit, orange juice, delicious smoked Franschhoek salmon trout, Franschhoek cheeses, toast, warm croissants and lashings of tea and strong, fresh coffee. From mid-April to October, we provide a light breakfast in The Cottage of home-made muesli, yogurt, orange juice, fruit and hot croissants when you wake up. If guests want a bit more there are some very nice places in the village. There are 29 vineyards for wine tasting, shops for retail therapy, four jewellers who can have your engagement ring ready in a couple of days, galleries with some of South Africa’s finest contemporary art and exquisite ceramics by local potters, two museums showing the fascinating history of the Valley and its Huguenot heritage and another with one of the world’s great collections of classic cars. More active guests can hike in the pristine Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve alone or with a local historian who can also take you on a walking tour of the village. They can also hike on the beautiful 5km La Motte Trail, take our bikes for an easy, scenic ride to nearby vineyards for a little light wine tasting, ride into the hills on old forestry tracks on their own or with Barry, jog round the village or alongside the Berg River Dam, go horse riding just 10 minutes down the road, play tennis just up the road with friendly locals or on their own or golf at a world class course just 20 minutes away. And if that’s all too much you can just chill out by our pool and then have a sundowner on the veranda with us before enjoying the finest value fine dining anywhere! A two night stay is our minimum in season but occasionally we may have one night available between longer bookings. These rates include breakfast, cold drinks, sundowners and use of bicycles. As we do not have credit card facilities payment must be made in cash.