Today, 1 April 2025, marks 20 years since the birth of Stanford Hills Estate. It feels like both a second and a lifetime since we arrived here, a young couple holding a dream and a very thorough (but turns out, entirely unrealistic) business plan. Bless our brave but naïve selves.
When we took over, the farm was a portion of the original Weltevrede, and home to a flower business called Mauroma Flora. There was also a little vineyard producing very limited quantities of Pinotage, made in a section of the old aircraft hangar. Those first years saw us harder than we ever had in our young lives , with tremendous enthusiasm but very little knowledge or experience between us. With the help of consultants we figured out how to make wine and spent many late nights and early mornings with our team of 6 farm staff, picking and packing flowers for export. We renovated a couple of original labourers’s cottages (Sylvia and Brunia) as self-catering accommodation, and so the journey to become Stanford Hills guest farm began.
In 2006 we planted another 8 hectares of vines, while still finding our feet in the flower industry. Once our grapes came into full production in 2010, we increased winemaking activities and launched a second label, as well as three more varietals. It was then we fully understood the challenges of the wine industry, and the need to find new markets for our wine. Naturally, the best place to sell wine is from the farm itself. So in December 2012 we opened The Tasting Room in a tiny run down building next to a dam. We did wine tastings, and sold deli items from a fridge, and quite to our surprise, the place became fairly popular. By May of the following year, we converted a double garage into a full restaurant kitchen, and over the years grew to a thriving 130 seater restaurant, popular for visitors as well as functions and weddings. This increased the need for more accommodation on site.
That year, we renovated the old managers house for ourselves and moved out of the original homestead in order to rent it out as a short term accommodation option for guests. Over the years, we continue to renovate this historic five bedroomed Manor House, and it’s a great option for large parties of friends or family. This year during May we plan to renovate the kitchen and further bathrooms.
In 2017, after a period of preparation and negotiation, we launched our first five Africamps glamping tents, which were immediately very sought after as a unique accommodation option for guests. In 2021 and 2022 we added another five tents, as well as adding the popular wood fired hot tubs to all of them.
In 2024 we added the stylish and luxurious Vineyard Villas, bringing the total guests we can accommodate to 75. It’s been quite the journey!
We continue to grow the wine and flower side of the business, but it’s people that are our passion. In 2016 we built a small stage next to our dam and hosted our first ever Sunset concert for an audience of around 300 happy guests. By 2024, we hosted 7 concerts on our new larger stage, bringing some of SA’s best loved musicians to Stanford, and averaging around 1000 people per concert. Just wait until you see who we have in store for you in 2025!
And so that brings us to where we are today. It’s far from perfect, and many elements remain a work in progress. But we’ve survived fires, floods and a pandemic, and we are still standing and growing.
We are incredibly grateful to every guest that has visited us, every customer that has supported us, everyone who has believed in us and every staff member who has helped to get us to where we are today. Long live Stanford Hills and all the lovely people who enjoy what we do. Thank you to all of you.
Warm Regards,
Peter and Jami Kastner