RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY REVIEWS PAGE 19
In 1741 , when Simon ’ s Bay ( now Simon ’ s Town ) was declared the official winter anchorage for The Cape , Steenberg was a natural overnight spot for the wagon drivers who travelled between False Bay and the nascent city of Cape Town over the Ou Kaapse Weg , so it enjoyed its first incarnation as a hotel .
The Russouws must have done well because Frederik ’ s son , Nicolaas , added the beautiful and ornate gable to the farmhouse – a sure sign that they were prospering .
In 1842 , the property was sold to close relative Johannes Adriaan Louw , whose descendants kept the farm until 1990 when it was bought by Johannesburg Consolidated Investments ( JCI ) to be developed into what it is today .
And Steenberg Estate certainly has it all ; a fabulous hotel , a magnificent 18-hole golf course , award-winning restaurant and a residential estate of 225 households . With many of the early investors still owning property on the estate , there is a low sales turnover , and the property prices reflect this exclusivity . Playing the 18-hole course at Steenberg is on many a golfer ’ s bucket list , and at any given time there is a membership waiting list .
The course is 20 years old , so Steenberg is embarking on a major greens resurfacing and bunker upgrade that will cost around R 5 million . The new automated water-wise irrigation system will be enhanced by the Blue Planet bio-remediation programme and effluent water treatment project on the estate . This revolutionary technology uses specific bacterial formulations to enhance biological breakdown of nutrients . “ The first treatment was the rehabilitation of the 18th dam where we are eliminating the bottom sludge ,” says Heiner Dominick , MD of BluePlanet . This , he explained , has eliminated odour when irrigating , and improved the water quality by optimising the nitrification cycle , and so reducing suspended solids and dissolved nutrients . The system has been widely used in agriculture , aquaculture and environmental remediation , but Steenberg will be the first residential estate to install it .
As well as the now much-improved golf course , the estate features everything one would expect at this level . The houses are all carefully placed for views and privacy , and the superdiscreet state-of-the art security allows home owners to enjoy all the benefits of living on the oldest farm in Constantia with complete peace of mind . catharina ’ s restaurant
And what of Catharina ? She would almost certainly not recognise the farm but her memory lives on in Steenberg ’ s flagship restaurant , Catharina ’ s . And it ’ s decorated with delicate origami swans that float gently in the breeze , and hark back to her initial wonder at first laying eyes on this beautiful piece of land .
www . steenberggolfclub . co . za