Strawberry Hill Farm House - a brief history

 

​The first farmers who settled in the area where the Moodie family who arrived from Scotland in the 1700’s and Strawberry Hill Farm was established in the 1800's. The Strawberry Hill Farmhouse (now a guest house) was built in the late 1800’s by Thomas Dunbar. Thomas Dunbar was a renowned land surveyor of the time who was responsible for the layout of the towns of Sedgefield, Voorbaai and Hartenbos. He, after building the Strawberry Hill farm house, moved onto the property to retire. The name Strawberry Hill comes from the wild strawberries that were found across the farm hilltops.
 
Thomas’s eldest son Benjamin Moodie then inherited the farm in the 1900’s and used the property to farm pigs and chickens, though he was more known for his love of the mountains and disappearing into them as often as he could. Benjamin then later sold the farm on to another Moodie generation in 1975 to Alex and Jenny Anderson who still own the farm today. The Anderson family lived and ran their businesses from Johannesburg and thus the Strawberry Hill Farm house became home to the many farm managers over the years.

The property is now run by Aileen Anderson who also managers theGrootvadersbosch Conservancy, which the Strawberry Hill Farm forms part of. The property was originally run as a commercial sawmill operation but the property has since been converted to a country getaway location where guests can come and enjoy the great outdoors by utilizing the network of hiking and mountain biking trails that traverse the property. The Strawberry Hill Farm house has been converted into a self-catering guest house which has proved very popular due to its prime hilltop position overlooking the eastern and western views of the Langeberg mountains and the valleys bellow. However, the house had to first undergo a number of renovations before becoming a guest house to create a more spacious - open plan, guest friendly living space. The original architecture of the house has been respected and the primary features of the original house have been kept and merged into the new structures. The house’s primary walls built in the 1800’s are wonderfully thick and provided a very sturdy and insulated base to expand from.

The original Strawberry Hill Farm house

The farm house undergoing construction to expand on the original structure

The new Strawberry Hill Farm house!

​The renovations have allowed each room to have an en-suite bathroom and has had the shared space areas expanded to create a more spacious and inviting area for groups gatherings and relaxing.

Keeping the iconic round windows with amazing views

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The kitchen has been fully refurbished and tiled but keeping the original huge fire place which adds to a great ambiance.  The dining room, kitchen and lounge areas are all open onto each other to create fantastic atmosphere where people can feel connected whilst between these areas. The dining room has a long table to fit the biggest families and verandas to each side of the house are furnished areas where you can relax and group together around a table outside with a built in braai to fit the occasion.

This lovely historical house is now available for guests to stay.  ​​

Building the new kitchen around the original fireplace

The new kitchen looking spick and span!

The shared living space forming the heart of the house