From the places we’ve travelled to, the people we’ve met, the loves we’ve discovered, the music we’ve danced to, the food we’ve favoured and the art we’ve been influenced by.
Some of us write it in a memoir, some share it around the kitchen table, some paint it and recreate it, and some of us display it all in our homes. A visceral exhibition of our lives curated through the pieces that hold the spaces together. Just as the owners of Tashdon Homestead have done to this enchanting escape at the foot of the majestic Drakensberg mountains.
Nestled amongst a yellowwood forest, adjacent a flowing river with rock pools and cascading waterfalls, surrounded by natural bamboo, ferns and a plethora of indigenous plants, this hideaway tells a family’s multigenerational story about their love for the land and relationship with its abounding nature.
What was once a fisherman’s rustic stone cottage up the hill, inspired a three-storey mountainous retreat beside the river. Set upon the river’s boulders, soaring up into the tallest branches, Tashdon Homestead welcomes you in to a labyrinth of antique cabinetry and furniture, family heirlooms, curious collectables, Persian rugs, French linens, repurposed pieces of farm machinery, recycled wooden crates, books and more books – that have all been furtively placed to invoke nostalgia.
Five bedrooms – all with their own bathrooms, some of which with a bathtub beside an open fireplace – span three private levels, with queen, bunks and separate single beds, basins and wash areas, and of course, spectacular mountain views.
The living, dining and entertaining spaces are all centred around the helm of the home where the cooking and feasting occurs. Each room being ensconced in natural light, flooding in from the tall glass windows and doors that lead out onto a beautiful deck. The separate River Cottage is just an amble down a pathway, 200 metres away from the main house, for additional accommodation should your family be as bountiful as the owners’.
As you head out into the wilderness – aside from wandering through the natural bush towards the river and its pristine waters, with elevated lookout decks and shaded reading spots from above – there are plenty of easy walking and more adventurous hiking trails to explore during the day.
You’ll be likely to come across the odd family of baboons, the occasional mountain reed buck and bush pig, or a rare porcupine sighting. The incredible birdlife of raptors, cape vultures, jackal buzzards, and olive wood peckers – to name but a few – will be taking flight for you to gawk your avid birding eyes over.
If you don’t fancy venturing too far, the beautiful walled rose garden and orchard, as well as the gorgeous greenhouse full of herbs and medicinal plants like turmeric and geraniums, are lovely to meander through.
It has to be said, that even though there is an abundance of nature on the doorstep, there are those days – whatever the weather – when you’d rather remain indoors, lapping up the next chapter. Little reading nooks and writing tables, window seats and even a wine cellar call for your occupation. The charisma of every spot seduces you into a quiet, solitary slumber, revealing yet another Tashdon tale.
Reviewed by Colleen Ogilvie