Residential Estate Industry Journal 5 | Page 28

SELBORNE GOLF ESTATE, HOTEL AND SPA Your eyes meet, you share a smile, maybe a drink … the relationship blossoms, you take the commitment further and make it legal. The years that follow are a combination of give and take, conversations and sometimes compromises. As in all relationships, like that of the resident and their body corporate (BC) or homeowners association (HOA), there are transitions where things change and a commitment to ‘playing by the rules’ makes the end goal – happiness for all involved – a little easier and so much sweeter. As is the case with Selborne Golf Estate, Hotel and Spa, located on KwaZulu-Natal’s South Coast. The Selborne Golf Estate, Hotel and Spa takes its name from the original owner, Lord Selborne, the Secretary for the Colonies, who owned the 80-odd hectares of land in the late 19th century. The Selborne homestead, or Manor House as we know it today, was built from the finest materials available and completed in 1954 by Vernon Crookes as the official residence of the company that operated the local Sezela sugar mill. The farm was later sold to dairy farmer Denis Barker, who set about transforming it into South Africa’s very first residential golf estate. The golf course was opened for play