Our Story
Doringbos is a sprawling Karoo homestead set on a private 3000 hectare farm and located in the heart of the South African Cederberg, a 3,5 hour (275km) drive from Cape Town.
In 2020, the owner opened the home to exclusive bookings to share the exceptional property and out-of-this-world natural beauty. The owners' love of a fine yet farm style way of life, and passion for the Cederberg, all come together in the low-key yet indulgent space that is Doringbos.
What started as an ambitious idea to purchase a remote and vast piece of wilderness and build a home stands to life today. Resting cliff-side elevated above the Doring River with breath-taking views as far as the eye can see, the homestead comprises of the main house, accompanying four cottages and a permanent tented camp on the nearby pan.
Doringbos accommodates 15 guests (technically quite a few more but to preserve the homestead and her contents we keep an eye on numbers) between the homestead and tented suite on the pan, a 10 minute walk from the main house. The main house has 3 en-suite bedrooms and her surrounding cottages offer a total of 7 bedrooms (5 en-suite and 2 sharing). The pan has one family suite. All the cottages are between a 20m and 50m walk from the main house.
The kitchen, dining and living rooms are all located in the main house, including the main terrace for el fresco dining. All of the rooms in the cottages have tea & coffee stations, sitting areas, wood burning fire places and terraces with views over the vast and craggy Cederberg. There are two swimming pools at the homestead.
Doringbos is off the grid and powered by solar (generators provide the farm with backup). Because of this our air-conditioning is limited to select bedrooms, but all rooms have floor and ceiling fans.
A ten minute walk from the main house is the pan, where you will find a rustic boma with dining and bar facilities, the private suite, a third swimming pool and a wood burning hot tub.
The farm has resident roaming eland, gemsbok, zebra and springbok. The homestead also has horses, donkeys, goats, chickens, geese, swans, peacocks and peahens. Many of our resident homestead animals are rescues.
For guests looking for more than just switching off from the real world, there is plenty to do! Hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, fishing and horse riding are just a few.
We are all about sustainability at Doringbos; in addition to being fully solar powered, our water is either pumped from our river or solar pumped from our borehole. We continue to plant trees and spekboom to help the environment and rework all of our animal manure back into the gardens.
Doringbos is well staffed to take care of our guests and housekeeping – expect home style service.
Doringbos can only be booked exclusively and either self-catering or with our chef.
We look forward to welcoming you home for an unforgettable experience.