Oak Manor

Oak Manor is an original farmhouse on Church Street dating back to before the 1860s. It is currently a guesthouse with an adjacent restaurant named Cafe Felix.

The guesthouse, to the left of the entrance, occupies the old farmhouse that was originally Victorian in design and primarily functional with a clay ceiling and half-meter thick clay walls, some of which are still visible today. Samuel III Du Preez, a teacher and descendent of the Du Preez family originating from Vleitjies, acquired the land and farmhouse with ambitions to create a manor house.

During the renovation in the mid 1900s, Samuel commissioned various changes and additions to add living practicality as well as grandeur, including the Cape Dutch gable which may have perhaps been added to compete with the neighbouring Cape Dutch-style property. He also updated the adjacent sheds which are now occupied by the restaurant.

Samuel additionally created the garden and planted the famous English Oak tree at the entrance, hence the name Oak Manor. Old photographs before Samuel’s renovation show the modest farmhouse and shed, amiss of any large oak trees and next door to the Cape Dutch-style property.

Radie Brand, the owner of Wykland Properties, subsequently purchased the property from the Du Preez’s and used it as his residence before he sold it to new owners in the 2000s who converted it into the guesthouse/restaurant venue that it is today.

While not featured individually, it’s worth quickly mentioning the neighbouring properties.

Alongside Oak Manor to the north is a long, multi-layered rectangular building that is currently occupied by doctors’ rooms. The higher level on the northern end was a wagon house for Remhoogte, while the lower level was occupied by local workmen of various professions, including plumbers, mechanics, fence-makers, and handymen.

On the other side of Oak Manor is a large homestead with dual Cape Dutch gables facing the road. This has been owned by the Smit family for multiple generations, and in the 1990s its frontage was occupied by a shop named after the lady who ran it: “The Wild Hen”.

Further up the road and between the Smit’s building and De Oude Kerk is a large Victorian home that is difficult to see from the road due its boundary wall and elevation. It belonged to the flamboyant Johnnie Smuts and his wife, who in the 1900s would host monthly dance parties in their hall which were fondly attended by many valley farmers and residents.