Great houses from little vineyards grow

On a clear morning, the last two hours of the flight into Cape Town are unforgettable. From seven miles up, I can see the lunar landscape of Namibia's skeleton coast and the gaping mouth of the Orange River emptying into the Atlantic. Nearing our destination, Table Mountain, its peak obscured by a wispy tablecloth of cloud, is set in sharp relief by the pale-pink light of dawn.

On a clear morning, the last two hours of the flight into Cape Town are unforgettable. From seven miles up, I can see the lunar landscape of Namibia's skeleton coast and the gaping mouth of the Orange River emptying into the Atlantic. Nearing our destination, Table Mountain, its peak obscured by a wispy tablecloth of cloud, is set in sharp relief by the pale-pink light of dawn.

The road east from the airport takes me past the shameful townships of the Cape Flats. Nyanga, Crossroads and Mitchell's Plain finally give way to the sharp climb into the Overberg. Stopping at the top of Sir Lowry's Pass to admire the view across False Bay, it's almost possible to convince yourself that the degradation of what you have just seen isn't real. Almost.

But, despite the wild beauty of the Garden Route, it's not by clinging limpet-like to the shore that I am going to find what is truly unique about the Cape. For that, I head just a little inland.

To call sleepy Franschhoek a one street town would be something of an exaggeration. It barely qualifies as a village, but its role in the history and development of the Cape was pivotal. It was here, in 1685, that French Huguenot settlers arrived – escaping the religious persecution of Louis XIV. Granted land in the valley by the Dutch governor Simon van der Stel, they set about building a Protestant life in Franschhoek (literally "French corner").

The village museum still displays the names of every Huguenot settler alongside a facsimile of their original signature – or, for the illiterate among them, just a cross. Famous and infamous South African names have their origins here: du Toit and Terblanche; De Klerk and Malan. The family tree of each and every one is traced on wall displays. It smacks of a genealogical obsession.

The museum, a gleaming replica of a Cape Town building by the Huguenot architect Louis Michel Thibault, also houses a fascinating treasure-trove of detail about the first farmers' lives. It was a harsh existence where every day brought the possibility of attack by lions, elephants or tribespeople – all of whom, of course, were here first.

But pride of place in the museum is reserved for the Huguenots' crucial import – knowledge of the grape. The South African wine industry today owes its existence entirely to the dark secrets of viticulture brought over 300 years ago by a motley crew of religious hobos. In the foreign setting of the western Cape they found the ideal soil and climate – the terroir – for producing world-class wines.

The new-found wealth of the wine farmers helped to cultivate another unique feature of the region, the Cape Dutch homestead. This architectural phenomenon – and its classic image of stark whitewashed walls, grey reed-thatched roofs and elaborate gables, set against the backdrop of an Arcadian landscape – is found only in this part of the Cape. The homesteads stand as expressions of will and defiance against the land, the natives and, later, the British. They are incarnations of a time and place as individual as the Pyramids of Egypt or temples of Central America.

Driving along the valley from Franschhoek, I can see the occasional homestead from the road. Names such as L'Ormarins, La Provence and Chamonix testify to the French influence on this Dutch form. But, while many of these places welcome visitors to taste their estate wines, it is not until you reach Boschendal about 10 miles to the west that you can spend undisturbed time just soaking up the beauty of the architecture.

On a large estate which incorporates the neighbouring (sadly, still private) homestead of Le Rhone, Boschendal's manor house has an individual beauty that surpasses almost any other building of the Cape Dutch style. Bright white amid a sea of vines, it is dramatically set in the thorny shadow of the Drakenstein mountains. From the main road to the Helshoogte Pass and nearby Stellenbosch it is unmissable.

The homestead itself, constructed by the De Villiers family in the traditional "H" design, has been restored and maintained as a museum. It overlooks a leafy courtyard, raised up on its stoep, or platform. The gables sit above the main entrances like crowns on a king.

Erected in 1812 in the neo-classical style – pilasters, pediments and urns abounding – they exude a wonderfully Cape combination of the Protestant restraint of the farm owners and the Baroque exuberance provided by the Malay slaves who actually did most of the work.

The interior, however, swings more towards Calvinist austerity. The walls are dark; the ceilings high. The smell inside is that of an English country manor, all faded Persian carpets and broken imperial dreams.

However, subtle beauty is provided by the craftsmanship of the woodwork. The exposed beams and floorboards, in mustard-coloured yellowwood, contrast with the rosewood dining table and dark stinkwood armoire.

The foyer, where visitors were received with sweet wine and cake, is separated from the dining area by a crafted louvred screen. From here the owner and his guests could look out over the vast estate. And wonder, no doubt, at how their religious misfortune had propelled them to a prosperous life on the other side of the world.

The Facts

Getting There

British Airways ( www.britishairways.com; 0845 7733377, from £733 return) and South African Airways ( www.flysaa.com; 0870 7471111 from £809 ) fly direct to Cape Town daily.

Being There

Other fine homesteads in the region are: Neethlingshof ( www.neethlingshof.co.za), and Spier ( www.spier.co.za). Groot Constantia, on the Cape peninsula, and Vergelegen ( www.vergelegen.co.za) both have a good reputation locally for their wine and architecture.

Further information

SA Tourism (0870 1550044; www.south-african-tourism.org)