Boschendal Estate, Franschhoek, Western Cape
Boschendal is one of South Africa’s oldest and most well known wine farms. Yet for over a hundred years it has mainly grown fruit.
Rhodes bought the farm in 1897 – five years before he died. It saw a business opportunity buying up relatively inexpensive wine farms in the Franschhoek and Stellenbosch area -whose harvests were decimated by the vine aphid Phylloxera.
In appreciation to Rhodes saving the farm Boschendal produced an annual Rhodes Wines in tribute to his saving the local fruit industry.
One of Rhodes’s incentives was to both can and export fruit using a innovative and revolutionary cold storage.
In addition to saving the Farm, Rhodes love of Cape Dutch Architecture is well know and he commissioned designed by his favourite architect, the young Herbert Baker to save many of the Cape Dutch Houses that were damaged or in decay.
One of the most unique features on the Farm is Rhodes Cottage, where Rhodes commissioned Sir Herbert Baker to renovate a labourers Cottage for his use from time to time. Subsequently Rhodes down to earth approach has been recently revamped into a luxurious 10 person R16k a night Cottage and renamed Cottage 1685, and might well be renamed again.
Workers Houses at Lanquedoc
Rhodes was always generous to his staff and had 60 or so “workers Cottages” beautifully designed 2-3 km from the farm in an avenue called Lanquedoc, which is now part of the village of Pniel.
The Avenue is beautiful, spacious and well designed- and beautifully executed.
Read Here: Rhodes’s generosity of granting inexpensive accommodation, however Rhodes insisted that the area would be a “Dry” area