Live in Owl Town

Perhaps Nieu Bethesda would be completely forgotten today if the muse had not moved in with Helen Martins on that dark and desperate night. When the once flourishing little town in a fertile valley of the Sneeuberg mountains started to run empty during the 1940s, Miss Helen, as she would later become known, was in dire straits: she had obtained her teaching diploma in nearby Graaff-Reinet but her marriage to Johannes Pienaar was on the rocks and her parents had died two years after she had returned in the 1930s to take care of them right to the end.

The prospects in the deserted little town looked rather bleak. Apparently Miss Helen was ill in bed one evening, brooding over her fate, when she had the sudden impulse to bring colour and light into her life. That decision led to the sun faces, owls and other sculptures she made, all against a background of light reflected by radiant patterns of broken glass on bright paint. When the house was almost complete, she tackled the outside and, along with a local sheepshearer Koos Malgas, created a paradise filled with owls, camels and other fantastical cement figures, all of which faced east.

'People come to Nieu Bethesda for the tranquility, the beautiful surroundings, interesting townsfolk, tree-lined streets, original leiwater (irrigation) canals and the lively interaction in the farming community.'

Then, in 1985, playwright Athol Fugard, who owns a house in the town, wrote his acclaimed The Road to Mecca. By that time the world had almost forgotten about Miss Helen: in 1976 she was finally overcome by the darkness and gloom and committed suicide by drinking caustic soda. By 2005, however, almost 13 000 visitors annually
were being enchanted by her 'Owl House' .

Unique holiday town
Today, according to Charles Rubidge from Pam Golding Karoo in Graaff-Reinet, this town at the foot of the Kompasberg is not only the hub of a well-established farming community but also a unique holiday town with an incredible night sky and great scenic beauty. 'Here you get a very specific lifestyle: people come to Nieu Bethesda for the tranquility, the beautiful surroundings, interesting townsfolk, tree-lined streets, original leiwater (irrigation) canals and the lively interaction in the farming community. We also have numerous bed-and-breakfast places and are only 50km from Graaff-Reinet – 25km if you take the dirt road.'

Despite the rumblings last year when a group of squatters decided to settle in Koeikamp, a 350ha piece of ground to the north of the town, the property market is very active, even though Charles says there is a great shortage of places for sale. ' Properties are either snatched up immediately or the prices are far too high and they remain on the market for ages. Houses are seldom available on the open market.' According to him at least six new homeowners in the town are from overseas. There are also a few young professionals who have escaped the mad city rush and now work from here thanks to modern technology. One of the results of this is that a new pre-primary school has been opened.

No big to-do
Where else will you find a town with no developments, no large housing estates, no golf developments, no petrol stations, no streetlights and no cellphone reception? If this sounds like paradise to you, you belong in Nieu Bethesda.

Judging by the property market elsewhere, you won' t have to rob a bank or beg for an early inheritance to be able to buy here. According to Charles an average house – if available – costs about R400 000, while smaller houses are sold for between R300 000 and R350 000. Plots cost about R1 000 per 100m2 . ' Properties give good returns year after year, especially empty plots and some of the older properties in the town centre.'

Don' t forget that you must do your homework thoroughly before you buy in a small, undeveloped place such as Nieu Bethesda, even if you only plan to relax there during the holidays, and draw inspiration from nature and the large, watchful eyes at the Owl House.

Be a wise owl
Never be in too great a hurry when it comes to buying a house. When you are scouting around for a place in a quiet country town you have to be even more careful. According to Charles Rubidge you should try to stay in the town for several days, preferably a few times during the course of a year, so that you can experience all the seasons.

Talk to the residents and decide if you will also enjoy the things they enjoy about living there. Other things to bear in mind are:
• Make sure that you will be able to sell the place again relatively easily.
• Be realistic. Don' t be an emotional buyer.
• Find out what infrastructure is available in the town – a place such as Nieu Bethesda has no doctors, dentists or hospitals. The only medical facility is a clinic.
• There may only be one or two shops in town that stock the most essential items. For groceries you may have to make a long trip to the biggest town, which, in this case, is Graaff-Reinet.

Who wants my euros?
Foreigners are still keen on buying property in South Africa: at the end of last year Pam Golding Properties attended two property exhibitions in Cologne and Hanover in Germany and had many enquiries about residential properties, especially in the Boland and Overberg, the Eastern Cape and Garden Route. Many wealthy Germans are planning to move to South Africa. According to Dr Andrew Golding, executive chief of the Pam Golding Properties group, the enquiries made at Süd-Afrika Tage 2005 were from serious buyers.

'In Hanover we had 21 consultations and in Cologne, 31, and all these prospective buyers are well informed about the South African market.' Golding says the average price of properties that are to serve as a second home is below R2 ,5 million but there is also great interest in more ex pensive Boland farms, guesthouses and other property investments.