Pinelands, Southern Suburbs

Although attributed with looking distinctly English, Pinelands’ wide streets lined with its distinctive pine trees, hence the name, falls short of the narrow lanes and one-up-one-down style homes that dominate English towns. Homes here are sprawling and have big, well established gardens, and the roads are wide and well planned. If you look at the suburb’s history, you can understand why.

Pinelands, just 10 km from the city centre, was originally an unsuccessful attempt at a pine tree plantation, called Uitvlugt. Rows of pine trees were planted on what was then the desolate Cape Flats. The suburb is post-war, hence the English influence, and local businessmen designed carefully and with some imagination - Pinelands doesn’t suffer from the usual box-grid-style streets but benefits from circular drives and roads that go off at tangents, making it a particularly welcome suburb in which to live.

A number of the bigger employers in Cape Town are based in Pinelands as are both Vincent Pallotti Hospital and the Red Cross Childrens Hospital. Mowbray and Rondebosch are adjacent suburbs, and access to the city centre and the beaches of False Bay is easy. Mowbray Golf Course, just around the corner, is set at the foot of Table Mountain and renowned for its views, bird life and the fact that it has hosted the SA Open seven times.