[imagesource: Christie’s]

Living on a nature reserve doesn’t sound too shabby.

If I wasn’t so attached to the constant sound of traffic outside of my apartment and had R75 million in spare change lying around, a property described by Christie’s International Real Estate as a “breathtakingly beautiful home”, in a natural setting just outside of Cape Town wouldn’t go amiss.

It’s close enough that you can still drive to somewhere with a Woolies, but far enough that the air smells a little fresher.

Bloomberg took a closer look at the story behind the estate.

When Willem and Makkie Joubert’s daughter moved to Cape Town to study architecture, they decided to follow her and began to search for ‘farms’ nearby.

But ‘farm’ doesn’t quite cover the 1 195-acre plot of land near Robertson. It’s more of a nature reserve.

“It was totally unspoiled, with no infrastructure on it,” Willem says—just vast stretches of fynbos, an incredibly biodiverse shrubland (plenty of evergreen heath, protea, iris, and lily) wholly contained within the Unesco-protected Cape Floral Region.

There’s greater density of unique plant species here than in the world’s rainforests.

Apart from the house, which they envisioned as an open space in nature, they also had to install a three-kilometre access road, a dam, and an irrigation system, all without disturbing the flora and fauna.

The couple moved in in 2015 and stayed for around five years before their business needs caught up with them (they founded a pharmaceutical group). Flying to and from Cape Town, they say, “was no way to live”.

Let’s head back to Christie’s for a description of the place.

Once inside the reserve, a veritable explosion of natural splendour and beauty awaits as abundant game including; eland, kudu, springbok, red hartebeest and zebra can be seen from the 2.9 kilometre paved driveway to the main residence.

Upon entering the sanctuary of the residence grounds, an abundance of towering Acacia and Fever trees greet visitors with their distinctly African contours.

At the house you’ll find everything you need to stay entertained in the bush, including a game room, library, private lake, swimming pool, guesthouse, and incredible views.

It also boasts seven bedrooms, nine full bathrooms, and one partial bathroom.

In other words, all the bathrooms you could ever want and more than you’ll ever need.

The pictures below give you an idea of the scale of the property:

Image: Christie’s

Image: Christie’s

Image: Christie’s

If you really want to get a feel for the place and the flow of the house, you need to take a tour:

I wouldn’t say no.

[source:bloomberg&christies]