{"id":843435,"date":"2025-11-19T05:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T03:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=843435"},"modified":"2025-11-19T05:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T03:55:08","slug":"the-fully-functional-farm-with-cows-and-chickens-in-the-middle-of-one-of-south-africas-top-neighbourhoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/843435\/the-fully-functional-farm-with-cows-and-chickens-in-the-middle-of-one-of-south-africas-top-neighbourhoods\/","title":{"rendered":"The fully functional farm with cows and chickens in the middle of one of South Africa\u2019s top neighbourhoods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Irene Farm is a unique agricultural area in the centre of the popular Centurion neighbourhood, home to 236,580 people and many high-profile businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irene Farm dates back nearly 200 years, when the Voortrekker Daniel Elardus Erasmus settled on the Doornkloof farm in the 1830s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After he died in 1875, the land was divided among his sons. In the late 1880s, entrepreneur Alois Hugo Nellmapius bought two-thirds of that land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nellmapius named the central portion of the farm after his young daughter, Irene. He developed Irene into a model farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He imported Friesland dairy cows, planted extensive gardens and orchards, and built a grand farmhouse, stables, and greenhouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Barn Restaurant, which is operational today, still occupies one of the original farm barns built in 1890.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Nellmapius died in 1893, his estate sold the property. Johannes Albertus van der Byl bought the farm for \u00a321,500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van der Byl continued farming, improved water infrastructure, and raised dairy and game animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Second Boer War, Irene hosted a British concentration camp, tragically killing over a thousand mainly Boer women and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-war, van der Byl laid out the village of Irene. Later developments included a police station, a forestry nursery, a hotel, a school, and a golf course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward a century, and Irene became one of the most sought-after residential neighbourhoods in Pretoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original farm also gave rise to other residential estates, including Cornwall Hill and Southdowns Country Estate, as well as the Irene Country Lodge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is particularly impressive is that the Irene Farm remains a fully operational commercial farm situated in the middle of these high-end developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The farm\u2019s iconic black and white Holstein cows are descendants of the original herd and continue to produce dairy for the public to this day, over a century later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The farm also features a restaurant, deli, raw milk production, and event venues, all while preserving its heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seventy Friesland buys Irene Farm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Last year, Seventy Friesland, which is wholly owned by Quadri Holdings, acquired the Irene Country Lodge and Irene Farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seventy Friesland is active in the property development market focusing on industrial, commercial, retail, and residential properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It owns a portfolio of rentable immovable properties and vacant land throughout South Africa, with a predominant focus on Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the deal, the businesses conducted under Irene Farm, a working dairy farm with a farm shop and offering hospitality services, were held under various legal entities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irene Estate conducted the farming activities of Irene Farm, while Irene Townships managed the restaurants, farm shop, and conference facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The land on which the hospitality aspects of the business are conducted is owned by Irene Estate and leased to Irene Townships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irene Farm is a working dairy farm that operates a farm shop and offers hospitality services, including dining, conferences, functions, and a wedding venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the deal, there has been significant investment going into the Irene Farm to improve and upgrade its facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hennops River, which was an eyesore at times and caused significant flooding, has been cleaned up and restored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The farm and its hospitality infrastructure are also undergoing numerous upgrades, including the addition of new facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has launched Waters Edge, a new weddings, functions, and events venue overlooking one of the tranquil dams and surrounding farmland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has also constructed a new facility to milk the cows and modern areas to run the farm, as well as hospitality facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos of the Irene Farm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photos of the Irene Farm restaurants and deli<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photos of the Irene Farm wedding venue and other areas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Irene Farm is a unique agricultural area in the centre of the popular Centurion neighbourhood, home to 236,580 people and many high-profile businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":843456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[24139,24140,22654,24138,24142,24141],"class_list":["post-843435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-alois-hugo-nellmapius","tag-daniel-elardus-erasmus","tag-hennops-river","tag-irene-farm","tag-quadri-holdings","tag-seventy-friesland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843435"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843711,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843435\/revisions\/843711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}