Our Story
Our Story
Come and soothe away the tensions, as you relax in the calm ambience of Calderwood Hall, an Edwardian Guest House, nestled in the foothills of the Southern Drakensberg mountains.
Surrounded by beautiful gardens with a gazebo and ornamental fountain, dams and forests, the Manor House’s double-storey elegance, reception areas, and wide sweeping staircase create such presence, yet she is also welcoming and warm. The drawing room is tastefully decorated and you can soothe away tensions as you relax in the calm ambience or enjoy a crackling log fire on winter days.
Every meal feels like an occasion when served in our dining room. It is a spacious, elegant room with five-metre high steel pressed ceilings, a built-in dresser, a huge fireplace, yellowwood floors and large sash windows which overlook the gardens. Dinner, table d'hote, is available by arrangement.
The Jardine Function Centre is designed as both a wedding venue and a conference centre. It seats up to 250 guests comfortably whilst still allowing for a dance floor. The tranquil, thatched, stained glass chapel is in close proximity.
Situated in the front garden, amongst the trees overlooking the dam, is our Pavilion. The large sliding doors opening the verandah, fire pit and a lovely braai facility give the room an indoor/outdoor feel.
We can host up to 82 guests on the estate. There are five luxury en-suite rooms in the Manor House, and set in the gardens are a further 23 en-suite garden rooms.
The estate is also home to a variety of animals including chickens (who kindly share their eggs with us), ducks, geese, rabbits and guinea fowl. Many of them are rescues. We also have a herd of wild horses who roam in on occasion to enjoy the grass and dam.
The Guest House has Midmar Dam, Howick Falls, fishing, trails, walks, golfing, and paragliding nearby.
with thanks to Gaynor Lawson
Calderwood Hall was the family home of the Jardine family, who emigrated to South Africa from Scotland to settle on their 50 000ha tract of land in the wild interior of the new colony. The settlers initially built a modest stone farmhouse near a small river (now a dam with the original river running through it), but when the youngest son, Joseph Jardine, inherited the property, he decided to invest his newly made fortune in a far larger country manor, designed by Stott, one of the most popular architects of the time.
Construction was planned to start in 1895, aiming for completion in 1900. Bricks were made on site using sand and clay from nearby riverbanks, which were moulded into shape and fired in straw kilns on the farm. Today one can still see the handprints of the brick-makers and imprints of the straw where the bricks were placed to cool after firing.
However, things were delayed by the loss in 1898 of imported building materials such as the "broekielace", tiles, steel pressed ceilings, steel fireplaces, stained glass, doors and door surrounds, all imported from Glasgow in Scotland, which sank into the waters of Durban harbour when a rope snapped during offloading. Luckily all the items were insured, and the whole consignment was re-ordered and arrived two years later. It then took another two months to transport everything to the building site by ox-drawn wagons.
Calderwood Hall was completed two years later than anticipated in 1902, and when complete was a truly elegant Victorian country mansion, which was the Jardine family home for many years. During their occupation, Joseph Jardine and his wife Edith produced twelve children, who were all born in the 'birthing room' on the ground floor (now a TV lounge), as Edith refused to climb the house's magnificent walnut staircase after her sixth month of pregnancy. The babies were then transferred upstairs to the 'nursing room' (now the en suite bathroom for the Indian suite) on the mezzanine level, where they were cared for by the nurse or nanny.
Unfortunately, over time, the next generation of Jardines sold off portions of the estate until there was only the house and a small garden left. Mondi bought much of the land, and finally acquired the house too, but in a very dilapidated state. Plans to turn it into an executive retreat came to nothing, and the house was sold once again in 1996 as a totally derelict property with a dam and 30ha of land. The once magnificent yellowwood floors were scratched and scarred, the roof leaked, bats, rats, owls and 17 beehives had taken occupation, cows grazed outside the front door, and there were no toilets, geysers, septic tanks, electrics, plumbing, running water or telephone.
The renovations were so costly that the buyers decided to open a B&B to defray some of the expenses, and today Calderwood Hall has evolved into the country venue it is today. It was taken over by Wade Coetzer in 2005 and has evolved into the country venue and home that welcomes people back, time and again. We continue to make precious memories.
with thanks to Gaynor Lawson
Calderwood Hall was the family home of the Jardine family, who emigrated to South Africa from Scotland to settle on their 50 000ha tract of land in the wild interior of the new colony. The settlers initially built a modest stone farmhouse near a small river (now a dam with the original river running through it), but when the youngest son, Joseph Jardine, inherited the property, he decided to invest his newly made fortune in a far larger country manor, designed by Stott, one of the most popular architects of the time.
Construction was planned to start in 1895, aiming for completion in 1900. Bricks were made on site using sand and clay from nearby riverbanks, which were moulded into shape and fired in straw kilns on the farm. Today one can still see the handprints of the brick-makers and imprints of the straw where the bricks were placed to cool after firing.
However, things were delayed by the loss in 1898 of imported building materials such as the "broekielace", tiles, steel pressed ceilings, steel fireplaces, stained glass, doors and door surrounds, all imported from Glasgow in Scotland, which sank into the waters of Durban harbour when a rope snapped during offloading. Luckily all the items were insured, and the whole consignment was re-ordered and arrived two years later. It then took another two months to transport everything to the building site by ox-drawn wagons.
Calderwood Hall was completed two years later than anticipated in 1902, and when complete was a truly elegant Victorian country mansion, which was the Jardine family home for many years. During their occupation, Joseph Jardine and his wife Edith produced twelve children, who were all born in the 'birthing room' on the ground floor (now a TV lounge), as Edith refused to climb the house's magnificent walnut staircase after her sixth month of pregnancy. The babies were then transferred upstairs to the 'nursing room' (now the en suite bathroom for the Indian suite) on the mezzanine level, where they were cared for by the nurse or nanny.
Unfortunately, over time, the next generation of Jardines sold off portions of the estate until there was only the house and a small garden left. Mondi bought much of the land, and finally acquired the house too, but in a very dilapidated state. Plans to turn it into an executive retreat came to nothing, and the house was sold once again in 1996 as a totally derelict property with a dam and 30ha of land. The once magnificent yellowwood floors were scratched and scarred, the roof leaked, bats, rats, owls and 17 beehives had taken occupation, cows grazed outside the front door, and there were no toilets, geysers, septic tanks, electrics, plumbing, running water or telephone.
The renovations were so costly that the buyers decided to open a B&B to defray some of the expenses, and today Calderwood Hall has evolved into the country venue it is today. It was taken over by Wade Coetzer in 2005 and has evolved into the country venue and home that welcomes people back, time and again. We continue to make precious memories.