Listen to the whispers of old trees
Once you have stood, sat or lain under the Whispering Tree at 4 George Street in Albertinia, you will find it hard to believe that when Marietjie Coetzee and her late husband, Loekie, first came to view the property 15 years ago, they initially didn’t notice the two common wild figs (Ficus burkei) on either side of the house.
But you will soon forgive and forget their “shortsightedness” when you see the imposing six-bedroom house – from the bird’s-eye view of Google Earth, it looks like an aeroplane or a bird with its wings outstretched. The house was built between 1965 and 1970 by former Albertinia mayor Koos Kemp, and the groundwater that has been bubbling up from the earth here for centuries meant that a floating foundation had to be used in its construction.
Marietjie and her family had been visiting Albertinia for years to spend time with her sister Leah and her late husband, Sampie, who started the well-known aloe cosmetics business Aloe Ferox in the town in 1996 – one of Marietjie’s daughters, Hanlie Hornsveld, works there today. In those days, the 1,6 ha piece of land, abundant with springs, was known as Kannafontein. According to the 1920 title deeds, “Plot 64b on the farm Grootfontein” had to
