Durbanville’s 12 wine estates “set the tone” for the whole area.

Home owners, says Rowan Alexander, Director of Alexander Swart Property, have an endearing tendency to believe that the area in which they have bought is much better – or at least of better value – than most others.

Even when hardly justified, this is a welcome trend because it leads to gratitude and community spirit.

 Nowhere, said Alexander, is this more true than in Durbanville. Since Alexander Swart established a branch there earlier this year it has, he says, become clear to him that the residents in the area feel that they are privileged and able to enjoy a far better lifestyle than most Capetonians.

This opinion, says Alexander, stems from the obvious fact that although large tracts of Durbanville’s 16 precincts are very definitely suburban, most of the homes are larger and stand on bigger erven than is usual in Cape Town. Most also have more attractive gardens than other Cape Town suburbs.

However, says Alexander, even more relevant to the Durbanville lifestyle is the fact that the village is surrounded by no less than 12 flourishing wine estates, all of which are in excellent condition, have beautiful scenery and in most cases  top- of- the- range hospitality offerings such as  cottages and rooms for hire, restaurants, wine tastings, bistros and tea rooms. Many, too, offer attractive walking and mountain bike trails (at Meerendal alone there are 20km of MTB trails).Some also offer entertainment such as concerts and gigs.

This means that any Durbanville resident who wishes to get out or get away from the built up environment can within a few minutes’ drive find himself on an estate which he can enjoy in much the same way as the owner. He can walk or cycle through attractive landscapes, study bird life and watch interesting agricultural operations in progress. Such activities will also ensure that he or she keeps fit. (Possibly no other Cape Town suburb has so many older people regularly exercising and keeping fit).

Since establishing a branch at Durbanville, Alexander Swart have listed 24 homes for sale and have sold 10 at an average price of R 3,091,000.

What we are finding is that many people want to live here and are prepared to make big sacrifices to achieve this.