The Lovely Bushwillows

Welcome to the cottage equivalent in SA: the “holiday house”.

You were introduced in September to Nick’s beach house, which has the bonus of being right on the sea.

The Wright’s holiday house may not be oceanfront property but it is equally stunning.

Set atop a hill overlooking red-rocked savannah, the three-bedroom cottage dominates the landscape. The property is 22 hectares large, meaning the nearest neighbour is a 15 minute walk away. The only other structure in sight is a small conference centre nestled in the valley far below.

The brilliance of its location is not only exemplified by its privacy and extraordinary vistas, but by the fact that is in fact a nature conservancy called Bushwillow.

9 properties make up the conservancy, with the owners sitting on a board which dictates its rules of conduct. Some of the regulations include no hunting and no planting of alien flora (in other words, if the tree/flower/bust/etc. is not native to the land, it is not allowed to grow). The Wright’s even had to request special permission to allow their dog, Monty, to visit the holiday house.

There are four decks and this one is tucked underneath the largest one. It is the perfect spot for a snooze in the hammock!



Game is allowed to run freely from property to property, as there are no fences or security walls. Kudu, baboons, and leopards are among some of the animals that are regularly seen strolling through the yard.

 In SA, a popular activity at holiday houses is to have "sundowners" -- where you sit outdoors and toast to the sunset. Here, the Wrights builts a special sundowners area which overlooks the valley.

Each property owner has given their share of the land a creative nickname of sorts. Family friends Delia and Grant named their holiday house “Papillion” (French for “butterfly”) and the Wrights have dubbed their piece of heaven, “Boulders”.

Two words: Outdoor shower.



What I love most about Boulders is the open space. It begins once you are 30 minutes out of the city, where everything opens up and your eyes are treated to fields that touch the horizon and hills that ripple for as far as the eye can see. If you’ve read my post on home security in Joburg, then you can understand my discomfort with the endless walls that line streets where I live. It is amazing how much one can miss scanning wide, open land until you are forced to live without it.

My first drive out to Boulders marked the first time in SA that I felt at home.

 What would a South African holiday house be without a braai??

 The view from the main deck

 Entrance area

Dining room

 Kitchen

 Cozy living room

 Each of the upper bedrooms include lovely couches at one end -- as well as their own private balcony!

 The large windows and ceiling fan help manage the heat

 Even though it is set 1.5 hours outside the city, in the middle of nowhere, security gates are still a must. These iron gates fold like an acordian open and shut, and lock with a key.

 Such a beautiful bathroom, doncha think?

 Thunderstorms get intense out at Bushwillow. This one left us with zero visibility off the deck!

 The house got hit by lightning and a huge chunk of the roof was blasted off. One of the scariest moments of my life!

Ahhh... so pretty :)