The Apple Blossom Cottage
Eighty years ago, someone laid stone upon stone on a highland farm and built a cottage that would outlast them. Today, those same walls hold warmth for a new generation of travellers who come here not to see Dullstroom, but to feel it.
Apple Blossom Cottage sits on 100 hectares of private farmland along the Kruisfontein Road, just 7.5 kilometres from the charming village of Dullstroom — South Africa's highest town, perched 2,100 metres above sea level. The cottage is surrounded by an old orchard of apples, figs, cherries, apricots, pears, and grapes. In spring, the blossoms fill the air with sweetness. In autumn, you pick fruit straight from the branch.
Inside, the cottage has the kind of character that cannot be manufactured. A coal stove heats the kitchen. A large open fireplace dominates the lounge and becomes the heart of the home on cold highland evenings — the place where stories are told, wine is poured, and the outside world is gently forgotten.
And then there is the water. Crystal-clear spring water flows from deep inside the mountain, straight to your tap. Fill your bottle. Make your coffee. Taste the difference. This is not municipal water dressed up — this is the real thing, filtered through ancient rock and cold as the highland morning.
When you book Apple Blossom Cottage, the entire farm is yours. No other guests. No shared spaces. Just you, the orchard, the dams, and the occasional visit from impala, otters, or Egyptian geese gliding across the water at dawn.
"Fill your bottle with crystal-clear mountain spring water straight from the tap. Taste the highlands."
