Le Grand Jardin is a private estate in the heart of the historic Stellenbosch (est.1679) Winelands. It is the signature residence of Wonderland Escapes nad it’s 50 km away from the city of Cape Town. Le Grand Jardin was a wedding gift for the daughter of the neighbouring estate and was designed by a student of Sir Herbert Baker– the most notable architect working in South Africa in the 1900s.
Rooted in enchanting environments – from the Cape and Argentinean Winelands to the Swiss Alps and Africa’s pristine southern coastline – it offers a sense of space and wonder, where bold mountain peaks of the Helderberg in the heart of the colour-changing vineyards, gentle rolling waves, secret gardens, glistening bodies of water and golden sunsets are gifts we delight in sharing.
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The inspiration behind this project draws on the restorative qualities of the expansive garden and surrounding vineyards. The garden served as an inspiration for the home’s interior aesthetic. The walls of the double-volume entrance hall, covered in De Gournay ‘Amazonia’ wallpaper, act as an exuberant welcome and invitation to enjoy the garden that offers an intimate private world of escape. Artistry exists in the interplay of timeless heirlooms and sensual textures of copper, leather, and velvet, set against the playful use of colour and craft.
The manor house offers a more stately option with 3 en-suite bedrooms and extensive entertainment areas, including the formal dining room, sexy blue gin bar, tasting room/cellar, drawing room/library/study, and media room. The pool pavilion with 3 en-suite bedrooms opens onto the solar-heated pool area with a summer room. When we walk through the home, the design immediately evokes memory with the hoots of night owls, nostalgic aromas of home-baked bread in the kitchen, and roses in the garden. You can see the influence of local materials as well as the use of arts and crafts.
Besides, the main en suite bedroom offers a wild celebration of Henri Rousseau’s jungle scenes, crafted by African Sketchbook, an enterprise working with self-taught artists from the surrounding townships. The In Full Bloom suite showcases a wall of giant blooms from Cara Saven Wall Design’s ‘She’s No Wallflower’.
Other designs include the green and blue pomegranates of ‘Carnival’ by Christopher Farr and the bright ‘Portofino’ range by Thibaut, while a sense of play is illustrated in Ardmore’s Savuti design for Cole & Son, which brings monkeys, chameleons and birds inside the Into the Wild garden suite.
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