- Project: Buffelsdrift Farm Restoration
- Architect: SAOTA
- Location: South Africa, Ladismith
- Year: 2019
- Area: 450 m2
- Photography: Adam Letch
In the arid Klein Karoo region of the Western Cape, Buffelsdrift Farm near Ladismith, South Africa, stands as a masterful blend of architectural restoration and cultural preservation. Led by SAOTA in collaboration with Jaco Booyens Architect, a specialist in clay buildings, the project was honored with the Gold Medal at the 2019 Domus Restoration and Conservation Award in Italy. This international accolade recognizes outstanding excellence in the fields of restoration, landscape recovery, and heritage conservation.
Restoring a Historic Cape Ensemble
The restoration encompassed a cluster of 19th-century Cape Dutch buildings, including a main homestead (dated 1852), two barns, a wine store, and adjacent outbuildings scattered across the landscape. These buildings nestle in a fertile valley at the base of the Swartberg mountains—a site rich in both natural beauty and layered history.
Greg Truen, director at SAOTA and current owner of the farm, notes that many of the structures remained largely untouched since their original construction. Subtle modern interventions were integrated in a sensitive and adaptive conservation approach, maintaining the site’s authenticity while allowing for contemporary functionality.
Heritage Techniques Meet Contemporary Craft
Walls built with traditional poured mud (cob) techniques—common among early Dutch settlers and trekboers—were preserved and echoed in a new pump house, designed using the same methods. The structure features vaulted brick roofs and cob walls, exemplifying a modern interpretation of age-old vernacular practices.
The landscaping was kept minimal and site-responsive, forming low terraced levels that gently guide the eye across the rugged terrain without disrupting its natural rhythm.
Layers of History Unearthed
Research reveals that farming at Buffelsdrift dates back to before the 1800s, with grazing rights granted in the mid-1700s. The initials IWDV (Isak Wilhelm van der Vyver) and the date 1852 are still inscribed above the homestead’s entrance—a direct link to the Van der Vyver family’s tenure that began as early as 1768.
Architectural historians like Hans Fransen and Prof. Roger C. Fisher have highlighted the property’s unique details: holbol gables, stoepbankies, yellowwood beam ceilings, and French locks dating to the 18th century. Fransen refers to the property’s rear gable, unusually ornate for its position, as a “Prince Alfred Gable.”
Original features such as stinkwood wardrobes, yellowwood ceilings, and handcrafted shutter details were preserved. Even French door hardware was restored by artisans in Paarl, ensuring historical integrity at every level.
Interior Configuration & Living Heritage
The main house maintains its original T-shaped layout: a central living space flanked by bedrooms, with a rear dining wing and a lean-to kitchen made of sun-dried bricks. Interiors reflect a restrained, tactile aesthetic, paying homage to the material language of the original builders.
The restored barns and wine store extend this material continuity, preserving their clay and lime-rendered walls, while new structures integrate seamlessly through craftsmanship rather than imitation.
A Living Legacy of Conservation
Buffelsdrift’s revival stands as a benchmark in rural restoration, not only for its architectural merit but also for the ecological and cultural sensitivity embedded in the process. By reviving cob construction and local detailing, SAOTA and Jaco Booyens reestablished a connection between architecture and its landscape, tradition, and craftsmanship.
This project is more than a restoration—it’s a resurrection of identity, enabling Buffelsdrift to tell its story to a new generation while honoring centuries of local knowledge.
Plans
