Our History

John & Carol de Bruin, avid lovers of farm life first lay their eyes on the little farming and mining town of Belfast in December 1991 and in February 1992 they moved onto Farm D4 Weltevreden.

John’s lifelong dream to own a farm of his own became a reality when John & Carol first started out on a small farm in Hoedspruit. Although quite a distance from bustling Johannesburg, many weekends and holidays with the family were spent there. Reminiscing and laughing about all the stories and jokes around the braai and in the Belfast man cave is something the family enjoys often.

The new home in Belfast boasts 270 hectares and 4 natural springs. Moving from the hotter, humid temperatures to the cooler misty ones in Belfast was an exciting change for John & Carol.

Carol’s folks, Dawn and Maurice lived on the farm whilst John & Carol managed their engineering business in Johannesburg but on the 11^th April 2012 Maurice unfortunately fell ill and had to be taken to hospital in Middleburg, he unfortunately passed away later in April.

Carol then moved to the farm to take care of Dawn, a quiet, humble lady known in Belfast for her kindness, milk deliveries, apple sweets and prickly pear jam. Dawn was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and could no longer care for herself.

It has taken 30 years of unwavering passion and dedication and together John & Carol have built the farm to what we know it today.

John, a lover of projects and full of tenacity then embarked on a new project – The Prickly Pair.

Two dilapidated silos at the entrance of the farm and usually meant for the storage of grain became a storage for rubble over the years. Sketches started around the kitchen table at breakfast and then the project started.

John and Carol along with the support of their family launched the opening of the silos in August 2023.