Imhoffs Gift Accommodation

Imhoffs Gift

With a history spanning over 250 years, Imhoffs Gift has a proud heritage of being Cape Towns hidden gem. The area borders on the Table Mountain Nature Reserve. Imhoffs Gift is a residential area which comprises of approximately 250 properties. Situated on Wildevoelvlei, the area is close to the ocean and hemmed in by mountains with views of the ocean, nature reserve and Chapmans Peak.

History
The rich history of the area starts in the mid 1700s. After the directors of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) decided to save their ships from the constant barrage of deadly winter storms in 1741, they put a halt to anchorage at Table Bay and chose to use Simons Bay instead. The new, safer destination also had its problems, one of which was the return journey on foot to Cape Town to source vital supplies for the fleet, a trip which would take a full four days. The Commissioner Extra-ordinaire at the Cape, Baron Gustav Wilhelm van Imhoff ordered the construction of the Simons Bay refreshment station in 1743. One of the main projects was the cultivation of lands in the Fish Hoek and Noordhoek valleys. Baron van Imhoff was impressed by the widow Christina Rousseaus efforts to alleviate the problems of supplying fresh produce from her farm Zwaansweide, that he that he awarded her a gift of land near Slangkop ridge. The area - which also encompassed the lands now claimed by Kommetjie and Ocean View - became known as Imhoffs Gift.