Luxurious container love nest in the Boland

Palmietvlei Farm, a working blueberry farm, is situated near Wolseley in the Western Cape, and offers a wonderful view of the Mostertshoek mountains from its innovative 'CouplesPod'

- Brian Berkman

Sliding glass doors provide a spectacular view of the dam and Mostertshoek mountains.

The first homestead of the Dicey family was established in the Hex River Valley in 1892. The family-owned business, Rora, acquired Palmietvlei Farm near Wolseley in 2016, and today grows blueberries in pots and under nets on 30ha of the farm's available 55ha.

While running a solid agricultural business, Palmietvlei's owners have recently taken advantage of the increased interest in rural tourism and the ecofriendly trend of repurposing used shipping containers as accommodation.

The farm offers three accommodation units: the FamTin, in repurposed containers accommodating four guests; the Riverstone House, the original stone farmhouse with four bedrooms sleeping nine people; and the CouplesPod container accommodation for two people, built in 2020, where Farmer's Weekly was billeted.

If ever there were an example of what great design can achieve with repurposed containers, this must be it. The structural make-up was the work of Innovative Modular Concepts of Grabouw, while the interiors were designed by owner Claire Dicey.

THIS IS WHAT GREAT DESIGN CAN ACHIEVE WITH REPURPOSED CONTAINERS

A vast covered veranda with a window seat, hanging-basket chair, large refectory-style timber table and a built-in braai are all perched on the edge of a lawn at one of three dams on the farm.

Guests are allowed to swim in all the farm dams, as well as catch and release fish: tilapia in the CouplesPod dam and trout in the others.