About Us
OUR STORY
The Rich History of Carus Gardens
The Heritage Home on the estate was the Original Farmhouse and Residence of Johannes Jacobus Rabie van der Linde.
Here is the story from Farmhouse to a 4-star Guesthouse as it is today.
The suburb was named after Johannes Jacobus Rabie van der Linde, a farmer from Philippolis in the Free State. He co-owned the southwestern corner of the farm Klipfontein with Louw Geldenhuys. They farmed fruit and vegetables on the neighbouring farm of Braamfontein.
They both bought their portions of the farm in 1896, but in 1898, with the death of Van der Linde’s second wife, he had to find £2195 for inheritance dues. And so, together with Geldenhuys, they divided up the farm intending to sell off the portions as lots. This procedure had already made Geldenhuys a wealthy man with the sale of sections of Braamfontein.
The lots did not sell as quickly as Van der Linde had hoped, being so far out of town – some 8km – with access limited to three dirt tracks from town. Then the Anglo Boer War broke out, and everything was put on hold.
After the war, the effort was revived, and an auction was held, but not much was sold. Van der Linde had to take out a mortgage on his portion of Klipfontein to cover the inheritance costs and put 84 more stands up for sale.
After several setbacks – land was rented to tenants who couldn’t pay. Finally, the British government declared Van der Linde’s portion outside Johannesburg’s boundaries. By the 1920s, the land had eventually been sold and consolidated into smallholdings.
The soil proved fertile – the acidic clay was perfect for growing peaches – and soon flourished with orchards. Once farmhouses were built, roads to Linden were laid out. In 1932, £3 600 was put aside to tar Rustenburg Road, the thoroughfare on the eastern border to the “fruit producing area in the vicinity of Linden”.
By 1934 between 300 and 400 families lived in Linden, and “most appear to be engaged in fruit farming”. Water was not a problem – private wells or boreholes supplied good quality, plentiful water. Gieskins, believed to have been “the biggest private retail dairy in South Africa” at the time, supplied residents with fresh milk twice a day.
True luck describes how the farms gradually disappeared and how in the 1950s, the Afrikaner elite moved in. By the late 1950s, Linden was a “fully developed urban suburb”. Nowadays, there’s a diversity of people living in the suburb, with Albertina Sisulu listed as the suburb’s most famous resident.
Matthys Kruger-Nel bought the Farmhouse Guesthouse Linden in 2019. Matthys and his husband Hugo Kruger-Nel renamed the guesthouse to Carus Gardens Wellness and Retreat Centre in 2021. The estate is now refurbished with original artwork and furniture to offer a “Country in the City” atmosphere.
The estate’s established gardens are perfect for the retreats to restore your body, mind and soul.
In addition, the luxurious Carus Gardens suites, Geldenhuys, Van der Linde and the Bezuidenhout are all en-suite with full bathrooms and have access to the estate’s gardens. The Geldenhuys and Bezuidenhout suites have a kitchenette (Microwave, fridge, and coffee/tea station). The Van der Linde suite is fitted with a full kitchen. The suites look unto the black pool and are separate from the original residence. Each suite is fitted with satellite-connected TV, Fibre Wi-Fi, a bedroom with a king-size bed and an antique wardrobe. Fresh flowers in every room are standard, with breakfast for two served in your room.