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With the garden at the heart of Babylonstoren farm, the guest cottages have been designed to allow as much of its beauty and surrounding landscape to follow you indoors. The whitewashed walls of the Cape Dutch architecture coupled with the natural fibers and organic shapes of the charming interior blend perfectly with the environment,” according to Valentine. VIS IT KA REN'S B LOG R OAM & HOM E
Wrapping up a two-week trip of safaris, game drives, and volunteer nonprofit work, seasoned travelers Coscarelli and Valentine knew immediately upon reading about the farm hotel in the heart of the Cape Winelands that they wanted to visit — however briefly. Opened by former magazine editor Karen Roos and her husband, Koos Bekker, a year ago, Babylonstoren is a collection of thatched-roof buildings in the Cape Dutch tradition with eight acres of fruit and vegetable gardens. The sprawling vineyards and adjoining farm cut a majestic impression from the foothills of the Drakenstein Valley mountains.
Upon arrival, the giddy couple made a pitstop in their modernist, beautifully furnished farm cottage (one of fourteen) to get oriented and pour two glasses of wine, before heading out into the perfect near-dusk light and solitude of the land. “It’s the new farm-to-table,” says Coscarelli. “What’s it called when the table’s in the farm? You can look out the glass windows and you’re right there in the gardens. Everything here is about connecting you to the land.” After strolling the grounds — “a magical fairytale for anyone who appreciates food and where it
comes from,” says Valentine — dinner was delivered as a beautiful antipasta tray, including cured meats, vegetables, bread, cheese, fruit, and wine, much of it directly from the gardens they just explored. Coscarelli and Valentine pulled the tray to a blanket on the floor in front of the fire, opened a bottle of red and a bottle of white, and did everything they could — including a bath with herbs from the garden — to draw out the experience. “I almost cried leaving our breakfast in the morning,” relays Valentine, “It’s like utopia here. Everything is perfect.”