STERREKOPJE HEALING FARM

Text by Sara Magro

The concept of well-being has evolved and changed from what was understood just a few years ago. It appeals to the etymology of the term: feeling well in the broadest sense of the word. This new way of interpreting the concept takes distance from miraculous machines or advanced techniques, but also from the idea of eternal youth and perfect beauty. Contemporary well-being has to do with the quality of life every day, with inner peace, self-acceptance at every moment of one’s existence and based on one’s conditions, with the course of life. It is a complex concept and requires a holistic approach, which has made centers flourish where alternative paths to body and mind health are followed simultaneously. Some retreat to do yoga and meditation, some dedicate themselves to the arts, some focus on sleep care, some seek nature and silence. Everyone has their own idea and can identify their tools to achieve the same goal: feeling comfortable with oneself, others, and the world.

In this scenario, Sterrekopje Farm is also positioned, which we cannot define as a spa in the common sense of the term. This place was born first from a life dream and a defined project: to create a place where people can feel good and make others feel good. Nicole Boekhoorn had traveled the world with her family since she was a child, but when she arrived in South Africa, she understood that this was her “place” because of the energy it emanated, its exuberant and fertile nature. Understanding exactly where to start her project was not immediate; she visited dozens of estates, but only when she entered the Sterrekopje estate in Franschhoek did she truly feel at home. And it was there that she began a personal journey, with her partner Fleur, transforming an abandoned farm into a place of serenity and harmony.

Nicole and Fleur were not in a hurry; the premise was to realize the dream exactly as they had imagined it. They uprooted the vines, turned over the earth, and created an organic garden made only with edible plants, albeit seemingly scattered. They created a large vegetable garden where two domestic piglets graze, and planted an olive grove from which they will soon press their own extra virgin olive oil.

The interiors are the result of the founders’ travels, culture, knowledge, and good taste. Every corner is a bucolic image, the spaces flow to the rhythm of a poem with ever-changing stanzas. The bustling large kitchen and oven, the winter garden with explosive mckenzie, the fireplace set against the backdrop of a fresco with extra-extra-large eggplants, fennel, and other vegetables, the living rooms full of books about art, about life and the works of Nelson Mandela, about women.

«I won’t give in to
age and I encourage
those around me
not to give in, eirther.
Women sholud be
proud of who
they are at any stage
in their lives.
State of mind is so
important. Laughter
is important.
Love is important».
– Tina Turner

Each room is a world unto itself, with fun bathrooms conceived as intimate spas, unexpected paintings and amenities: fans, bags, cards to interpret one’s karma, colored pencils for drawing, a veranda to meditate or dream surrounded by lavender fields.

The oldest structure on the estate, a 17th-century Dutch house with a densely thatched roof, has become the spa – a term insufficient to describe the atmosphere perceived in this space with warm floors (it can get very cold in winter), walls in colored earth, Egyptian and Indian frescoes. To welcome you and make you comfortable, they give you a foot massage, then move on to treatments or the wet area to further relax. Nothing is missing, yet this is not the core of well-being, but only a piece of a lifestyle that includes silence, clear air, the small lake, food that is not only local but inspired by longevity with benefits indicated on the menu (the juices are delicious and can be requested at any time). The true focal point is the yurt where yoga classes, meditation moments, and seminars on feminine awareness are held. Four times a year, for a week, this small refined hotel organizes retreats for women of any age with the goal of helping them work on themselves under the guidance of Nicole and other scholars of the feminine universe, to get to know themselves and compare experiences with other women through exercises, dialogues, and readings. They are planning programs for men and couples in the future.