Properties

Lustigaan, together with Winterhoek, were two freehold farms that belonged to b6 Jacob de Leeuw from 1808 until his death. They had originally belonged to Jacob’s wife’s grandfather, Louis le Riche, and then to his widow Suzanne Fouche. Louis le Riche was a French Huguenot that arrived on the Driebergen ship on 3 September 1698 from Thymerais, Normandy. He was granted three farms Kromme Rivier #1 (1699), Kromme Rivier #2 (1707) and Lustig Aan (1725). Just prior to leaving for the Cape Colony, Le Riche received financial aid in Delft on 8/8/1697. Other members of his family went to live on the island of Jersey. 

Winterhoek, together with Lustigaan – as detailed above for Lustigaan – were two freehold farms that belonged to b6 Jacob de Leeuw from 1808 until his death. The farm came into the de Leeuw family via the marriage of Jacob de Leeuw to Susanna le Riche.

Amstelhof is located right next to the N1 toll plaza – on the southern side of the road – on the way to Johannesburg. As a young man, I travelled that road very often and never realised that I am driving past a farm owned by my ancestors.

Jacob’s (b6) brother b4 Hendrik, farmed at Amstelhof (previously known as Hartebeeskraal). He took over the farm on 21 July 1786 and farmed there until 1799. 

Hendrik purchased the property from Tieleman Roos for an amount of f 28,000. The property was 59.2 morgen in size. 

Mount Happy, previously known as Bengale and most recently Jonkersdrift, has a long history since the initial 1680s land grants to ‘Free Blacks’. It has the typical cross section of Jonkershoek Valley farms, with flat water meadows next to the river, backed by steep slopes crossed by streams. 

Mount Happy changed hands several times until it was acquired by e5 Roelof de Leeuw in 1872. The de Leeuw family retained ownership of the farm until 1974 when the farm was sold to Dirk Zandberg. In 1996 Mount Happy was acquired by the Dalings. The property is currently owned by Uhambo Property Investments (Pty) Ltd and is known as Jonkersdrift. 

Around 1905, f4 Cornelis bought two sections of the farm Groot Valley, located north of Citrusdal and adjacent to the road between Citrusdal and Clanwilliam. The one section was known as Achterland and the other section was renamed as Lowenheim. Achterland adjoined in the west to the Olifants River. To the north was a very large farm called Groot Brakfontein and to the south were the farms Rooihoogte and De Meul. In the east the farm stretched to the foothills of the Cederberg mountains.

Around 1974, h1 Pieter purchased a grape farm five kilometers outside of Vredendal on the road the Lutzville. The farm adjoined the Olifants Rivier in the north and the road to Lutzville in the south. When Pieter bought the farm, he had no experience farming, having grown up in the city and smaller towns of Kingwilliamstown and Malmesbury.