OVERSEAS PROPERTY
Surrey’s Premier Lifestyle Magazine
Living Wild
With a passion for wildlife, based on his formative farming years in Mpumalanga, successful businessman Fred Wörner has provided the foresight and impetus for the development of Mahathunzi, a chance to live wild in the African countryside.
The vision of creating an opportunity to live amongst wildlife, with a minimal footprint on the landscape, and no change in land use, became a reality for Fred Wörner in 2014 with his second property development following the success of the Karkloof Safari Spa.
The creation of the luxury development of Mahathunzi on the edge of the five-star spa in the sub-tropical landscape of Natal, South Africa provides an opportunity for modern living in the midst of and in harmony with nature. Living in one of these luxury homes on 50 to 80 acres, giraffe, rhino, buffalo and many other game animals are all close by.
Here is Africa at its best, the silence broken by birdsong, the rustle of grass and the continent’s intoxicating scents. The development has won plaudits from environmentalists for its game-breeding programme, accommodation, hospitality and spa. The name, Mahathunzi, takes a cue from the Zulu word is’ithunzi meaning presence, aura, confidence, spirit, wellbeing and shade – as well as the ancient Sanskrit word maha, meaning a powerful connection with nature.
Mahathunzi forms part of a pristine game farm, the 7,400 acre five-star Karkloof Safari Spa, where big game species thrive in a predator-free area. There are 283 bird species, 43 resident mammal species and countless butterflies. On the hillcrests there is an indigenous mistbelt forest with a unique floral kingdom. Night skies sparkle with stars as there is no light pollution. The climate is temperate all year round, ranging from around 20 degrees in winter to 30 degrees centigrade in summer.
The creation of the luxury development of Mahathunzi on the edge of the five-star spa in the sub-tropical landscape of Natal, South Africa provides an opportunity for modern living in the midst of and in harmony with nature. Living in one of these luxury homes on 50 to 80 acres, giraffe, rhino, buffalo and many other game animals are all close by.
Here is Africa at its best, the silence broken by birdsong, the rustle of grass and the continent’s intoxicating scents. The development has won plaudits from environmentalists for its game-breeding programme, accommodation, hospitality and spa. The name, Mahathunzi, takes a cue from the Zulu word is’ithunzi meaning presence, aura, confidence, spirit, wellbeing and shade – as well as the ancient Sanskrit word maha, meaning a powerful connection with nature.
Mahathunzi forms part of a pristine game farm, the 7,400 acre five-star Karkloof Safari Spa, where big game species thrive in a predator-free area. There are 283 bird species, 43 resident mammal species and countless butterflies. On the hillcrests there is an indigenous mistbelt forest with a unique floral kingdom. Night skies sparkle with stars as there is no light pollution. The climate is temperate all year round, ranging from around 20 degrees in winter to 30 degrees centigrade in summer.
Some 49 exquisite low-slung homes, designed to blend seamlessly into the landscape, are to be developed on freehold plots. Each plot comes to the market at £220,000. There is planning approval to build homes of around 800 square metres with three metre wide open-sided overhangs trebling that space, plus garaging and staff accommodation. Homes currently planned range from £500,000 to £2.5 million, depending on materials and finishes. So, at a level of around £750,000, for land and house, the price of a modest home in London, purchasers can have a place in paradise. Bolted onto this is a concierge, staffing, travel and entertainment service, all on tap.
Homes are designed to make them practically invisible to passing eyes, but offering unsurpassed views and the chance to watch game from the property’s deck. A 24-hour security service ensures privacy. Each home is unique and offers a retreat from the frenetic pace of the man-made world.
Access from Europe is via a ten hour overnight flight from Heathrow to Johannesburg, then it’s a 45 minute hop to Pietermaritzburg. With a one-hour time difference, there is no jetlag. A short drive into the country and owners will be on their own deck for lunch and game viewing.
Contained within 2,400 acres of authentic African terrain, ranging from open grassland plains, plateaus, dolerite cliffs, forested valleys and water pools, Mahathunzi supports well-established populations of wildebeest, giraffe, reedbuck, eland, kudu, nyala, blesbok, zebra, warthog, jackal, caracal, bushpig, abundant bird life and many other indigenous species. The Umgeni and Karkloof rivers converge on the area adding the charm of water to an already verdant landscape. It’s a landscape that early man would recognise as home. Just minutes away is one of Southern Africa’s best private schools, Hilton College. The Albert Falls Dam sits two kilometres away on the Umgeni River.
Despite the remote feel, Mahathunzi is just 20 minutes from the charming university town of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu Natal, and close to the seaport and holiday resort of Durban.
Homes are designed to make them practically invisible to passing eyes, but offering unsurpassed views and the chance to watch game from the property’s deck. A 24-hour security service ensures privacy. Each home is unique and offers a retreat from the frenetic pace of the man-made world.
Access from Europe is via a ten hour overnight flight from Heathrow to Johannesburg, then it’s a 45 minute hop to Pietermaritzburg. With a one-hour time difference, there is no jetlag. A short drive into the country and owners will be on their own deck for lunch and game viewing.
Contained within 2,400 acres of authentic African terrain, ranging from open grassland plains, plateaus, dolerite cliffs, forested valleys and water pools, Mahathunzi supports well-established populations of wildebeest, giraffe, reedbuck, eland, kudu, nyala, blesbok, zebra, warthog, jackal, caracal, bushpig, abundant bird life and many other indigenous species. The Umgeni and Karkloof rivers converge on the area adding the charm of water to an already verdant landscape. It’s a landscape that early man would recognise as home. Just minutes away is one of Southern Africa’s best private schools, Hilton College. The Albert Falls Dam sits two kilometres away on the Umgeni River.
Despite the remote feel, Mahathunzi is just 20 minutes from the charming university town of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu Natal, and close to the seaport and holiday resort of Durban.
LOADING
Mahathunzi: about the architects
Designworkshop: sa ANDREW MAKINBelieving the land of Mahathunzi is sacrosanct, its topography raw and emblematic, quintessentially African and far too important and valuable to be interfered with, Designworkshop: sa’s portfolio of projects includes the Constitutional Court building of South Africa, Singita Lebombo and Sweni lodges – both rated by Condé Nast and Harper’s as number one hotels in the world – and a range of houses in some of South Africa's most sensitive and magnificent natural environments.
NEIL HAYES-HILL
With 30 years’ experience and a passion for safari, lodge and hotel developments, Neil Hayes-Hill focuses on design strategies sensitive to the immediate environment and its surrounds. Having designed in most renowned safari areas of Africa, as well as in the UK and Brazil, Neil is versed in design principles and offers valuable insight and creative solutions in building design.
ELPHICK PROOME ARCHITECTS (EPA) – GEORGE ELPHICK
George Elphick, co-founder of EPA, has undertaken a wide range of well-known projects in the Southern African subcontinent over 25 years. EPA enjoys extensive experience in creating bespoke private residences, placing emphasis on innovating individual, crafted buildings. EPA’s acclaimed residential work has been widely published in books and magazines globally including Dwell, Maison Françaisee, Elle Decoration and Wallpaper.
Mahathunzi and Karkloof offer the best of both worlds: safari reality with access to city sophistication and broadband. Pietermaritzburg has some of the best schools as well as excellent medical care and a modern airport offering seven flights a day to Johannesburg.
Residents will be able to use 46 kilometres of all-weather shale roads within the property for game viewing and the freedom to enjoy mountain biking, walking, fishing and running.
What will draw buyers to this haven? Its access to two of the world’s greatest luxuries: unspoiled landscape and a healthy wildlife population. Mahathunzi is situated at the heart of three distinct kingdoms of wonder, all just an hour away by plane. To the south are the incomparable mountain-ringed vineyards of the Cape; to the west the deserts of Namibia with their dune climbing elephants; and to the east lies some of the greatest deep sea fishing in the world off the coast of Natal and out into the Indian Ocean off the islands of Mauritius and the Seychelles.
Fred Wörner sums up the opportunity: “My vision was to create an opportunity to live amongst wildlife, while leaving a minimal footprint on the landscape, a place where time stops, an experience I and my guests have enjoyed and which has massively added to the quality of our lives. Interest in the development is coming from buyers who love Africa and love the idea of living cheek by jowl with wildlife in a green and sustainable way where wildlife will always have priority.”
Residents will be able to use 46 kilometres of all-weather shale roads within the property for game viewing and the freedom to enjoy mountain biking, walking, fishing and running.
What will draw buyers to this haven? Its access to two of the world’s greatest luxuries: unspoiled landscape and a healthy wildlife population. Mahathunzi is situated at the heart of three distinct kingdoms of wonder, all just an hour away by plane. To the south are the incomparable mountain-ringed vineyards of the Cape; to the west the deserts of Namibia with their dune climbing elephants; and to the east lies some of the greatest deep sea fishing in the world off the coast of Natal and out into the Indian Ocean off the islands of Mauritius and the Seychelles.
Fred Wörner sums up the opportunity: “My vision was to create an opportunity to live amongst wildlife, while leaving a minimal footprint on the landscape, a place where time stops, an experience I and my guests have enjoyed and which has massively added to the quality of our lives. Interest in the development is coming from buyers who love Africa and love the idea of living cheek by jowl with wildlife in a green and sustainable way where wildlife will always have priority.”