Purper Winde

In Swellendam, the third oldest town in South Africa, you will find Purper Winde on the banks of the Koornlands River.

Come and relax in the informally elegant lounge around a log fire. We do not regret – no TV.  A Honeymoon suite in the loft with Victorian bathroom en suite and Queen Anne stove.  Enjoy sundowners on the deck or look at the stars at night and if you are lucky, watch the bushbuck grazing in the garden.  A bride relaxing before the big event.  Magnificent views of the exquisite Langeberg Mountains with sounds of the river meandering through the wooded garden.

Purper Winde was the result of the owner, Lizette Hendry's new interest in buildings in Swellendam, to an idea to build something new but to make it look old.  It had to be without all the hassles of an old building i.e. no plumbing, electrical issues, no gutters /downpipes to clean etc.

Specifications for windows, doors etc. were taken from the Drostdy Buildings. Sanitary ware, traditional copper taps, bathmixers etc. could easily be sourced from the by now very familiar, secondhand shops in Long Street for PURPER WINDE to be built in Faure Street along the bank of the Koornlands River.

A beautiful woodland garden also emerged with plants donated by all the new friends in Swellendam in order “to spread the beauty” everywhere.  The property, originally draped in the beautiful blue trumpet shaped flowers of Morning Glory (Ipomoea) vines, became known as PURPER WINDE, the Afrikaans translation for Morning Glory. This garden with its fairies, toadstools, steps and winding paths, has now become a paradise for childrens’ parties, meditation, readings etc.