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Bloemfontein accommodation
Bloemfontein is the capital of the Free State Province of South Africa. Fashionable spots to stay are the Dersley Manor and City Lodge Bloemfontein. We recommend staying at Liedjiesbos Guest House. Look at the video below from when it was featured on Top Billing to understand why.
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13 Frans Kleynhans Road |
Tel : 083 282 5701 Fax : 086 234 8572 |
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Nico: Good evening and a warm welcome to Top Billing. Whilst it?s open to debate whether a butterfly flapping its wings here could cause a hurricane halfway around the world, tonight?s unique location in Bloem, has a remarkable butterfly roof, which certainly questions traditional building. Narrator: On a Free State farm you might expect a bungalow shaped house with a white stoep or traditional Cape Dutch. With this property, however, architect Jan Smit has built a two bedroomed home that defies the extreme regional temperatures. He?s managed to create a remarkably temperate indoor climate, it?s all in the roof you see. Nico: It?s incredible, I believe this once was a barn. Architect: Yes, it was a very typical agricultural barn with steel structure and pitched roof, which we changed around into a house and then we kept the floor plan the same, the footprint of the building, and then added some scriptural elements on this side, in the sandstone. And that?s then contrasted a little bit with more slick elements like steel, the glass, so it?s a contemporary version of an agricultural setup. But obviously the corrugated iron, what would a Free State house be without corrugated iron. Narrator: Jan and Petria run an award-winning architectural practice that focuses on interpreting landscape and climate in their designs. Architect: It?s done quite a few things for us, it lets in Northern light into the building from a very high angle specifically for the winter. It also creates a wonderful connection with the landscape and it creates quite a beautiful space on the inside. Narrator: Imagine one butterfly wing of the roof extending over the larger living spaces and another smaller wing covering the back and utility areas. When you?re inside, you immediately appreciate the concept of light versus volume. Custom designed fixtures give the interior a calm, practical framework for art and furniture. Narrator: White linen on a brass bed is a strong visual reference to life on a farm from another era. But the clean, unfussy setting brings it directly into the present. The modern translation of an African vernacular turns keepsakes into talking points. The owners are avid world explorers. A more tightly disciplined traveller might leave large and fragile artwork behind but these ardent collectors simply made a plan. Nico: Henning, I?m loving your interiors, it seems every piece has its own story . Henning: Yes, Nico, we found stuff all over the world, like the painting at the back we found in Thailand. We couldn?t bring it like this so we took it off the frame, rolled it up and brought it as hand luggage. Narrator: They bought these chairs in China. Their many precious objects have come into their own in their new space. Henning: The cupboard we found in a railway auction. I just took the doors off and turned it on its side so that we can put all our collectables in there. Narrator: As you look around your eye settles and then takes flight only to find another focus. Perhaps the butterfly effect has found a new application. While the d?cor is colourful and intriguing, the discipline of the interior finishes makes it work. Money was an object of concern, but if you?re a resourceful architect, you turn limited cash into creative solutions. Henning: We had a very small budget, so we had to do things like not put carpets or tiles on the floors. Instead of wallpaper we painted the stripes on the wall. The rest of the walls we put on stickers. Initially it is expensive but you never have to repaint that wall again, so that saves you a lot of money. Narrator: A gas hob makes for instant and economic design. The kitchen?s practical but far from sparse. Henning: We used super wood and then we just painted it. The cement we just left like it was and then just put a layer of varnish on top of that. Nico: It?s a very rough, earthy feel, I like it. Narrator: Remember, that this was once a farm. Today it?s the garden that sustains the house. Henning?s pride is his greenhouse. But it?s not your average bean and tomato incubator. His veggies are exotic and his indigenous flowers, well travelled. Henning: We also grow some things just because it?s beautiful or it?s edible. So, we?ve got some Chinese vegetables here which are really beautiful and really nice to eat. Nico: What are these little guys? Henning: These are called schinopsis multiflora, it?s a rare South African plant, indigenous to South Africa, but the funny thing is that we found it in Thailand of all places. So we asked my friend to send me a few but when we went to the airport to collect them he sent me two tons of bulbs. It doesn?t need too much sun so you can put? it in a shady spot in the garden. Don?t plant it too deep under the soil and it should be fine. Nico: Now how is it that a plant that is indigenous to South Africa is very rare here? Henning: I think what happened is that South African people didn?t appreciate indigenous plants for quite? few years and all of a sudden with the droughts that?s coming with global warming, people want to plant indigenous plants because it just makes more sense, its water wise. Nico: Well, I?ve got to say, I love rare things , like my wife and Top Billing and I can?t wait to take this and plant it in my little garden at home. Narrator: The plants that don?t live in the controlled environment have grown strong in outs of the struggle and that?s life in the Free State for you. As for the structure, it works on the land, because it too shares homegrown credentials. Architect: The way that you use your materials, your design, the modulation of the building should be something that has to do with that specific landscape and the specific part of the world that you are working in. There?s no getting away from the extreme temperatures, but Henning has a plan for all season. Nico: What is it that you like the most about your home? Henning: Nico, what I really love the most is our coal stove during the cold winters we?ve got in the Free State. So we would open a bottle of wine and sit infront of the coal stove for hours, it?s really magical. And then of course, all the natural light that comes in through these windows. And looking at the stars during the night, seeing the moonrise, that?s the small things that make this home special. Narrator: the quiet evenings, the signing of cicadas in summer, the creak of the roof as it cools after the heat of the day. The house offers the best of the rural life, a productive tract of land, a peaceful retreat and all the benefits of contemporary design. |
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Mayo Lodge |
1 Mayo street |
Tel : 051 522 1098 Fax: 088 051 522 1098 |
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Map of Bloemfontein
Angels Haven Guest House |
97 Castelyn Drive |
Tel : 078 277 4322
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Bayswater Lodge |
80 Wilcocks Road |
accommodation@bayswaterlodge.co.za www.bayswaterlodge.co.za |
Tel : 051 436 1004 Fax : 051 436 2356 |
Belmont Guest House |
4 Sixth Street |
Tel : 051 448 8168 Fax : 086 661 7606 |
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Bloem Spa |
Rayton Road, LilyVale |
Tel : 051 436 1550 Fax : 086 628 7566 |
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Boa Vida Guest House |
94 Klerck Ave |
Tel : 051 444 4145 Fax : 051 444 4145 |
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Brebner House Bed & Breakfast |
84 Melville Drive |
Cell : 082 558 1945 Fax : 051 436 5271 |
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Dersley Manor |
10 Dersley Road, |
Tel : 082 558 1945 Fax : 086 570 9884 |
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Earthsong Lodge |
Bloemfontein |
Tel :012 470 5300 Fax : 012 470 5390 |
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City Lodge Bloemfontein |
Cnr Nelson Mandela Drive |
Tel : 051 444 2974 Fax : 051 444 2192 |
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Flo Ben Guest House |
3 Paul Roux St |
Tel : 051 436 7453 Fax : 051 436 2919 |
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Hobbit Boutique Guest House |
19 President Steyn Avenue |
Tel : 051 447 0663 Fax : 051 447 0663 |
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Palm Lodge |
10-12 Stapelberg Street Brandwag |
Tel : 051 444 6982 Fax : 051 444 6982 |
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Protea Hotel Bloemfontein |
202 Nelson Mandela Drive, Brandwag |
Tel : 051 444 4321 Fax : 051 444 5714 |
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Protea Hotel Willow Lake |
101 Henry Street, Willows |
Tel : 051 412 5400 Fax : 051 412 5404 |
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Cnr. Nelson Mandela and Melville Drive |
Tel : 051 ?444 253 Fax : 051 444 0671 |
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Stanville Inn Hotel |
85 Zastron Street |
Tel : 051 447 7471 Fax : 051 447 7514 |
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The Golf Lodge Guest House |
Aliwal St/Milner Rd |
Tel : 051 436 5370 Fax 051 436 5199??????? |
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Tuin Huis Guesthouse |
Garden wood St |
Tel : 051 525 2451 Fax : 051 525 2442 |
