It has been rumoured that Uitvlugt, the area where Renovatio River Estate is located,
was named by a family
who fled the Johannesburg area to escape the Anglo-Boer war and who settled in the
area due to the fresh water flowing from the Suikerbos River. Uitvlugt is a Dutch
word meaning 'to flee' or 'fled’.
Uitvlugt as described by the previous owner of the property, was once a very large
farm owned by a farmer
with 7 sons who one day decided to divide his property into several parts and shared
them amongst his sons.
The original farmhouse built by the farmer in 1883 still stands on the River Estate
and has been lovingly restored
and renovated into the 1883 Farmhouse & Bridal Suite, the sandstone walls are untouched
and the
wooden Oregon doors & windows have been restored to its former glory.
The Farmhouse has been aptly named '1883' giving honour to it's age and heritage.
An old concrete bridge spanning above the Suikerbos River a stone’s throw from Renovatio,
is the last remains of an old road built many years ago in the early 1900’s when
Vereeniging was
newly formed and was not yet a formal city or town.
It is rumoured that the old road was part of a route that linked Vereeniging and
Villiers and initially ran through Uitvlugt and over the concrete bridge towards
Vereeniging before the railway lines had been laid, back then Vereeniging was a small
simple coal mining town when coal was first discovered in the area.