The scenic, small eastern Free State town of Clarens remains an extremely popular weekend getaway for people living in Gauteng as it is only about three-and-a-half hours drive from the big city.
This sandstone home is on the market for R1,3m.
And you can buy an original sandstone home in the town at prices starting at R1,3-million and ranging to about R2,4-million.
There are between 25 and 30 of the town’s original sandstone homes on the market at the moment. Clarens is seen as being an ideal weekend retreat for the wealthy city folk from Johannesburg and Pretoria and is also viewed as an ideal spot for retirement.
Just 550 people live in Clarens permanently although a further 700-odd have holiday homes there and spend the occasional weekend – or couple of weeks – enjoying the scenic splendours and healthy lifestyle of the eastern Free State.
This home in a lifestyle estate is priced at R3,83m.
Apparently the sandstone homes are drawing considerable interest because of their national heritage status.
Skilled stonemasons built these homes after they found that the demand for their skills was declining in major centres because the building industry itself was becoming more modular and standardised. So stonemasons moved out of the main centres to work in small communities.
The Free State has large deposits of sandstone and it’s used as a primary building material in towns such as Bloemfontein and Winburg in the central region to Bethlehem and Clarens in eastern parts of the province.
Anne Maree, of Pam Golding Properties, says that the sandstone used in Clarens was sourced from local quarries and while many homes have modernised over the years, sandstone has still been used as a primary raw material.
“This means that the homes in Clarens offer character, a warm and inviting appeal for buyers and provide spectacular mountain scenery and a healthy, country lifestyle,” she says.
“For those people wanting to get a start in the property market, Clarens is an ideal choice. For instance you can by a property in a prime position in the main street that is priced at just R1,3-million and it can be used as a guesthouse, a shop, a gallery or restaurant,” says Maree.
“Alternatively a modernised, three bedroom home with three bathrooms, situated on the edge of the village is also on the market at R1,9-million. It is run as a self-catering guesthouse, has a large open-pan kitchen and living room, a north-facing patio set in a spacious garden of 3 000sqm,” says Maree.
For more information, contact Odette Paris or Gail Veenhis on via email.
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