Hidden Gems

An unexpected bonus of having to manage this stage of the building process from a distance, has been the discovery  – so far – of two lovely, privately owned guest houses very close to our new home.  Feeling that I cannot always rely on the generosity of friends on my flying visits up to Johannesburg, I’ve recently stayed in both the Abbey Guest House in Craighall Park and the Windmill Guest House in Parkhurst.    I doubt I would have ever discovered them had I not found myself in the strange position of being a visitor in my hometown and they have both proved to be lovely surprises. Should I ever find myself with a very full house and unable to accommodate friends, I’d have no hesitation in booking them in to either of these two ‘home-from-homes’.

Abbey House from the Driveway.

When the electric gate at Abbey House opened, I was quite surprised to find a very similar ‘farmhouse’ style house to the one we’re building.  This guest house was custom built and there is plenty of secure, off-street parking which is essential in Johannesburg.

Bedroom – one of 11 rooms.

Garden Path

Water feature in the garden not unlike the one I am planning.

Covered Veranda

Another view of the veranda.

If I could have simply transferred the entire veranda (with the exception of the Kudu head) to my new house, I would have been very happy.

Living room.

I loved the overlay of rugs on both the veranda and in the living room. The floors of the entrance area, dining area and veranda at Abbey House were all done in a smooth concrete finish which we call cemcrete.  I had requested it for my veranda but somehow or other, this had been misunderstood and the contractors – in my absence – had laid tiles instead.  Becoming quite desperate to get the house finished, I had decided to simply accept them but, on seeing how beautifully the cemcrete flooring worked at Abbey House, I changed my mind, dug in my heels and insisted that the tiles be lifted.  That would have been a messy and noisy job but fortunately I didn’t have to be there.  We’re now waiting to have the originally-planned-for cemcrete surfacing poured.

Big Generator in the driveway.

Generators are becoming essential for Guesthouses and hotels in Johannesburg with power outages becoming a daily occurrence. About 10 days after my stay at Abbey House, I needed to return to Johannesburg and found it was fully booked on the days I needed to be there so I set about looking for something else in the area.  I decided to try Windmill House as I had been past it a few times on exploratory drives around Parkhurst, my new neighbourhood.

Article in a Neighbourhood Newspaper.

(I’m not too sure about “Posh”.  That seems to be pushing it a bit.  But it has become a very popular neighbourhood for ‘starters’ and ‘downsizers.’  A friend who lives in Victoria, Canada, one described it as being a place for ‘Newly Weds and Nearly Deads’…  This might be a good description of Parkhurst.  We have friends who have moved back there for the more compact homes and gardens, having started out there between 30 and 40 years ago.) Windmill House describes itself as a B&B and is smaller than Abbey House, having only three suites.  It is tucked away on what must be on of the last dirt roads in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg and it is nestled close to the same river that runs through the park in front of our new house.  In fact the garden of Windmill House runs right down to the river. It is quirky and utterly charming.

The Windmill Itself.

The bedroom had a double volume ceiling and exposed beams.

Driveway leading to pool and river garden.

So although it is very frustrating to be trying to manage this building process from afar, there have been some upsides to going home as a visitor.  Johannesburg is nothing if not full of surprises.