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Between the Namib Sand Sea and the Tiras mountains, an old farming oasis has been transformed into a restorative escape. Shaded by trees planted several generations ago, the four new Nooishof suites share the “Ouma House”. A kitchen garden provides much of the produce, picked daily. Guests can head out on foot or e-bike on demarcated paths, or explore the 25 000-hectare reserve on nature drives. -
The more formal dining table in the Ouma House can seat 10, the maximum guest capacity at Nooishof. -
A sun- splashed lounge in muted shades. -
Breakfast is usually served on the stoep of the Ouma House, at whatever time it suits. The mix of contemporary and time-worn pieces “thread the past into the future” -
The stove is the heart of the Ouma House, where Mariza experiments and guests are welcome to watch or join. The artwork is a reprint of a 1952 painting by Mariza’s late mother Krystyna, which interior designer Heidrun Diekmann enlarged and printed on canvas. The Le Creuset casseroles have been collected and gifted over many years by family, including Marc’s mother Edda. These personal elements and historical touches fill the Ouma House with character. -
The stove is the heart of the Ouma House, where Mariza experiments and guests are welcome to watch or join. The artwork is a reprint of a 1952 painting by Mariza’s late mother Krystyna, which interior designer Heidrun Diekmann enlarged and printed on canvas. The Le Creuset casseroles have been collected and gifted over many years by family, including Marc’s mother Edda. These personal elements and historical touches fill the Ouma House with character. -
A wood-burning fireplace warms the Ouma House on winter nights. -
The pantry in more subtle shades of green. -
A reading nook, one of several. -
An old-fashioned display cabinet adds visual texture and interest. -
Georgian-style chairs in fresh green balance the farmhouse nostalgia. -
The vanity unit in the bedroom is a reminder of traditional farmhouse fixtures. -
A walk-in shower with desert views. -
Tahlula, the biggest suite, features a fireplace and an adjacent alcove with twin beds – ideal for a family. -
Each of the four suites opens onto a private patio furnished with loungers and chairs. -
Lighting the fire is a wonderful evening ritual, with a stellar glass of wine to toast the last of the sun and watch the stars flicker on. -
With its inviting L-shaped stoep, Scout Suite provides several vantage points from which to enjoy the changing view.
WORDS Pippa de Bruyn PHOTOS Elsa Young
Located within the extraordinary land of the Sinclair Nature Reserve, Nooishof is a place of soul-stirring beauty, the result of a long love affair with Southern Namibia.
“We humans are just enzymes,” says Marc Pampe, contemplating the scene below us in the softening light. “We can speed things up or slow things down, but nature is ultimately in charge.” We are seated on smooth boulders warmed by the sun, our ice-cold G&Ts fragranced with fresh mint picked from Nooishof’s garden.The plains are washed in pink and gold, tufts of grass pixellating into a vast pelt edged with a thin brushstroke of lime – the diminishing remains of some localised rainfall. Nameless mountains rise like rock-encrusted inselbergs ,vertically striated with black rocks that look like split seams. It is a scene of ancient grandeur, sculpted by millennia.
Southern Namibia is a place of awe, seemingly almost devoid of life. With an annual rainfall as low as 50mm, survival in the 25 000-hectare Sinclair Nature Reserve, located south of the Namib-Naukluft National Park, is testament to Darwinian lore. On a nature drive, we pass the occasional gnarled tree; warthog, tails aloft; a herd of oryx, startled into a gallop, raising clouds of pink dust in their wake. This only serves to highlight the luxury of returning to a glowing oasis, surrounded by cypresses and palms, where the aroma of Mariza Pampe’s roasting Muscovy duck, reared on the farm, greets us. This is Nooishof, so much more than a hospitality project, created by the Pampes with interior designer Heidrun Diekmann.
“Nooishof had to encapsulate Marc and Mariza’s intention: to share their connection to the environment,” says Heidrun. “It’s a place of healing that can root you in simple experiences – dawn walks; watching the extraordinary way in which Namibian light captures colour; being nourished by what has been picked from the garden that morning. Respect for what is propagated, for what has survived.” Heidrun, who has known Marc since they were students at Stellenbosch University, speaks with a lyrical intensity that is reflected in all her work. Here, an old farmhouse is reimagined as a retreat, with four spacious, beautifully appointed suites in cool whites and accent colours that pick up the delicate hues of the desert. Pathways across the lawn lead to the “Ouma House”, an open-plan homely space centred on the kitchen – “the heart; a place for Mariza to experiment and share her love of cooking and preserving, under an artwork by her late mother that we reprinted on canvas”. And running the length of it, another comfortably shaded stoep.
“The mountains to the east cycle through so many hues – all you need is a place to sit still and observe,” says Heidrun. “I took hundreds of photos of the landscape at different times of the day, and used these as reference points. Marc has a deep personal tie to Sinclair, a reverence for what past generations created under really tough circumstances, so it took some encouragement to move any plants or demolish anything. At Marc’s insistence, we kept the old farm-style water cooler, which now houses his collection of wine – but he allowed me to move the pool.”
Heidrun and the Pampes opened rooms up to vistas, with plenty of glass to provide a visual connection between the landscape and the interiors. “We wanted it to feel welcoming, warm, homely, filled with things collected over time. I love hunting for unique, time-worn pieces that thread the past into the future. Marc and Mariza have their own, very definite sense of style, so I constantly asked for their input. A sense of mutual trust made everything much easier.”
Come evening, Marc lights the outdoor fire and hands me a glass of wine – tonight, Thelema Sauvignon Blanc. The tamboti wood perfumes the air as flocks of pretty sandgrouse squabble over who sleeps where and why it’s time to go to bed. It’s another deliciously long sunset, the mountains deepening into purple against a dark indigo sky. Soon the full moon will rise, bathing the plains in ethereal light, and we will dine at the candlelit table. But for now, we gaze up, quietly content as the stars flicker on, the yip of a black-backed jackal silencing the sandgrouse. | nooishof.com
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