Why to visit Stanford Valley Guest Farm in Stanford

​By Roxanne Reid
Stanford in the Overberg has long been one of my favourite little Cape villages for its heritage buildings, good restaurants and laid-back village markets. On a recent visit we found a super place to stay in the countryside. Here’s why to visit Stanford Valley Guest Farm in Stanford, South Africa.

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You’ll find Stanford Valley Guest Farm tucked into the Klein River valley 10km outside Stanford, along the R326 to Napier. It’s a pretty two-hour drive from Cape Town or just 34km from the buzz of Hermanus on the Cape Whale Coast. 

Stanford is a peaceful little country village so it should be no surprise that the most attractive aspect of Stanford Valley Guest House is its serene country atmosphere. This tranquillity and the views of the Akkedisberg mountains were two of the highlights for me, and I couldn’t help thinking what a perfect location it would be for a meditative retreat or a small wedding. 

You won't easily forget the country tranquillity and mountain views

The accommodation clusters around the old Manor House

The 150-year-old Manor House is the heart of the farm, where you’ll find the reception area and a warm welcome from friendly and professional staff.

You'll also find one of the best restaurants in Stanford, The Manor House (see the things to do at Stanford Valley section below for more about the food), some comfy spaces to sit and relax, a glass-doored fireplace for warmth in winter, and a small library with books on one wall and a wine collection demanding to be browsed on another. Think thick wooden beams, reed ceilings, terracotta tiled floors and patterned rugs. Art works lining the walls are a feast for the eyes. There are some sculptures in the gardens too. 

The best view from The Manor House restaurant

​And of course The Manor House has a dazzling view, especially when all the doors and windows are folded back out of the way to give a feeling of eating al fresco for summer lunches. 

Books, wine and art - a perfect combination in The Manor House

Reception, coffee bar and kitchen

A quiet corner in The Manor House

Farm accommodation
Our room was a short walk away from the Manor House, lovely without being over the top. It was decorated in clean tones of white and cream with blue accents and had light wood floors and a reed ceiling for an old-fashioned touch – a comfy space to spend time. There was a desk, mini fridge, coffee/tea station, king size bed and somewhere to hang your clothes and park your suitcase. There was even a small wood burning stove with glass door and chimney (wood supplied) though in November it was sadly too warm to use it. 

A row of rooms called Fynbos looks out over fields and mountains

Inside our Fynbos room

​Outside, a small table and two chairs rested on a little porch that was my favourite place to relax, especially with a cup of coffee and a rusk at dawn or a glass of wine at dusk. The view was like a layer cake, from the pebbles of our small enclosed yard with its mauve lavender bushes and white iceberg roses, to a tier of green lawns, some horses in a paddock off to the side, and beyond that the mountains that are so essential a part of the Stanford Valley experience. 

The layered view from our porch

All the whitewashed rooms and cottages, including family units, cluster around a central werf. Some of them are 150 years old like the Manor House, but they have been beautifully renovated to create a peaceful country haven. Each has its own little walled garden for privacy, lending the guest farm the air of a small village.

Each unit has its own walled garden surrounded by shady trees and green lawns

Some of the cottages at Stanford Valley

Things to do at Stanford Valley Guest Farm

• Explore the 440ha working farm. You’ll find a vineyard, a horse paddock with beautiful horses, some of them palominos, and 250ha of the farm is part of a nature conservancy blanketed in Cape fynbos. The star here is the rare Erica Shannonea with its white flowers. It grows only on the lower slopes of the Klein River mountains from Stanford eastwards and along the mountains between Napier and Bredasdorp.

The Manor House in the evening

• Whatever you do, don’t miss having a meal at Stanford Valley’s Manor House restaurant, which looks out over rolling lawns, a pond and horse paddock towards the Akkedisberg in the distance. We booked for dinner one evening and were so glad we did. We loved the fresh linefish with caper cream, served with crushed potatoes, green beans and baby broccoli and given a special touch with a piquant lemon peel curd. It was deliciously subtle and beautifully presented. For dessert, we had moskonfyt crème brûlée with honeycomb, the custard just the right creamy wobbliness and the topping the perfect thickness and crackle. Thanks to chef Janine van der Nest and her kitchen staff, it was the best meal I’ve ever had on numerous visits to Stanford. Other options on a menu of locally sourced foods included fillet, lamb and pork belly. (Note: you don’t have stay at Stanford Valley to enjoy the restaurant but you do need to prebook.)

Chef Janine van der Nest doing what she does best

• Take a walk up to the farm dam on a hill above the main werf. It’s a perfect spot for a cooling swim in summer, to catch some sun on the jetty or relax at one of the picnic tables under the trees, surrounded by fynbos and views of the Akkedisberg.
• Order a delicious picnic basket from Stanford Valley’s kitchen. They’ll give you a picnic blanket too. Enjoy your picnic under the oak trees on the lawns, up at the dam or anywhere else on the farm that strikes your fancy.

Spend some time at the farm dam

• If you’ve brought your mountain bike with you, you won’t be able to resist riding along the jeep tracks on the farm or exploring some of the specially built mountain bike trails that thread their way into the hills. 

Bring your mountain bike with you and ride among fynbos on the farm

• ​Put on your walking boots and go hiking into the mountains to admire the fynbos and enjoy beautiful views of the surrounding farms. If you’re a keen birder, don’t forget to take your binos too.
• Take a walk around the main werf to enjoy the gardens with their shady trees, lavender bushes, roses, plumbago and agapanthus. Admire the structural elements near the Manor House, from sculptures, stone walls and water features to the raised herb garden with its heady aromas. I enjoyed the sculpture of a man crawling out of the mud of the pond.

Explore the gardens and water features that surround The Manor House

The pond in front of The Manor House, with vineyards in the background

• ​Take time to simply relax on your porch with a glass of something cool and a good book, or listen to the chattering of the birds and the buzzing of bees while you drink in the clean country air, the soaring views of mountains.

The porch at the small conference centre

​Things to do in Stanford and surrounds
There are lots of things to do in Stanford just a hop, skip and jump away. Enjoy a sunset cruise on the Klein River, go wine tasting at wine farms in the area, craft beer tasting at Birkenhead Brewery, cheese tasting at Klein River Cheese, or treat yourself to lunch at one of a clutch of good restaurants in and around Stanford. Find out more things to do in Stanford.

In the wider area but just a short drive away you can go land-based whale watching in Hermanus, exploring a cave at De Kelders, and shark cage diving or boat-based whale watching in Gansbaai. Find out more things to do in Gansbaai.

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