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For a long time we turned up our noses at the idea of this, gravitating to the heritage and culture of the original City Centre, with its richly diverse architecture, street life and public art, but as a guide that claims to accord its reader the status of a Joburg insider, it is our duty to keep exploring and to tell the story of this city as it unfolds. That’s not to say that we have deserted the City Centre. In fact, we are watching developments there closely and are excited about the green shoots that are starting to appear.
But for those who can afford it, Johannesburg has become a place where people seek out safety, and gated residential developments are now a distinctive feature of Joburg’s lifestyle because of the lack of management of public space by those in charge of it.
We recently were invited to visit Steyn City, located between Fourways and Lanseria, a place we have been curious about for some time. It’s also a place that you can only visit by invitation or booking, so our stay there gave us the unique opportunity to explore.
Announce your credentials at the gatehouse, and you’ll be ushered into a development that spans more than 2,000 acres (said to be four times the size of the luxury playground that is Monaco), which is why having a golf cart comes in handy – our mode of travel throughout our stay.
What’s inside Steyn City
What’s clear from the start is that this is a different way of life, a gated community built around immense shared space. You hear the polite chatter everywhere, as neighbours encounter each other along walking paths, at the gym or one of the restaurants. It’s also a development built with a long view. Steyn City first broke ground in 2007 and it’s still developing into the place it will one day become. It has been built for the future, and with next generations in mind.
The idea is for a differentiated community of people, from young families to retirees, singletons to couples to live in the estate.
Of course, estate living has its detractors, but it is worth noting that by 2015 Steyn City had already created more than 11000 jobs, a number that has grown exponentially since.
Art is widely featured across Steyn City, with a wide range of outdoor artworks on display. Our favourites are the beautifully intricate mosaic pieces that were a collaboration between ceramic sculptor Charles Gotthard and untrained artists from neighbouring communities of Diepsloot and Cosmo City. The results are whimsical and glorious pieces.
All access here is controlled, but once inside you’ll notice there are no high walls or electric fences, features that sadly have become the hallmark of many Joburg suburbs.
Reports put the figure at R6-billion of the initial investment, with Steyn City designed as an all-in-one lifestyle, the kind of place you rarely need to leave, built around the outdoor lifestyle that Joburg weather suggests. It includes:
1. Steyn City Hotel by Saxon, an apartment hotel
2. A retail core in the City Centre
3. Restaurants and cafes
4. Co-working space
5. A beach-style lagoon
6. A family-friendly Dino Park and Pirate Ship
7. Well-marked running, walking, cycling and mountain bike trails that criss cross more than 1,000 acres of indigenous parkland.
8. An 18-hole Nicklaus Design Championship Golf Course with an award-winning clubhouse
9. A helistop for those who have their own helicopter or just love to travel this way
10. An equestrian centre with an outdoor Olympic size show jumping arena and facilities for horse riding and stabling
11. A school for grades 000 to matric
12. Fishing dams
13. Tennis and Padel and Pickleball courts
14. A luxurious gym and PackLife fitness centre
15. Sports fields and an aquatic centre
There is talk of a sister Marabi Club (the original is at Hallmark House in Doornfontein) which will find its home in the City Centre of Steyn City, and a Saxon Spa destined to open within a year.
The entire estate offers a range of accommodation which includes apartments, cluster, and freehold homes, and most recently Steyn City Hotel by Saxon. Steyn City has eschewed the cookie cutter architecture residents get to choose. There’s also a village designed for senior living, and plans for an on-site private medical centre.
Steyn City was built from scratch, and with its own water filtration plant, back-up electricity, and fibre-optic internet it could easily secede from Joburg.
At the centre is a retail hub where you’ll find the hotel, restaurants and stores. It is built around a central grassy courtyard that is used to host community events, concerts and other performances. It’s hard not to sound like an advertising brochure, and it's not our intention. We are describing it as we experienced it.
Founder, the late Douw Steyn dreamed up this city after being inspired by some of the world’s most prestigious residential developments, and wanted to create a living space in Joburg that would provide security, be a self-sustaining community and offer extensive green spaces.
The parkland is impressive, with vast green spaces that have prioritised indigenous planting and sustainability, and with more than one million trees, shrubs and groundcovers carefully cultivated throughout the estate. This effort has given Steyn City a splendid bird and animal life. The gardens were a more than 10-year project in the making, and the idea is that everyone gets to share the space, with several homes built overlooking lush forested areas.
A weekend at Steyn City
On our weekend stay, we took up residence in a luxurious and spacious two-bedroom apartment at Steyn City Hotel by Saxon. This is not the Saxon as we know it, although the service gives the brand away. Impeccable and personalised, you'll be greeted by name from the start and every effort will be made to accommodate your wishes.
The hotel has an unconventional design, with the lobby being a gathering space and the hotel radiating out in apartment blocks, which provides privacy to guests. The Steyn City Hotel by Saxon is a luxury apartment hotel with a difference. Spread across buildings, it offers 50 serviced apartments ranging in size from one and two-bedroom apartments to the three-bedroom apartment Penthouse or the four-bedroom Presidential Suite. The apartments are all elegantly furnished and well-fitted out with kitchenettes and appliances. After all, self-sufficiency is a hallmark of Steyn City. Hues of green are a hallmark of the decor, intended to conjure vast green spaces beyond the door.
With a golf cart and a willing driver, we toured the vast property for much of the early afternoon, stopping for a late lunch at 19 by Michael, a restaurant and bar looking over the pristine golf course. At the helm is Swiss-trained chef Michael Holenstein. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, 19 by Michael has a plush club setting, and on the day was full of lively banter with golfers streaming in and locals enjoying lunch. The menu is full of gourmet dishes; the portions are generous and the cocktail menu is worth looking at. The restaurant also has a vast wine menu. We enjoyed the generous sushi platter, followed by a comforting prawn curry with all the trimmings.
Inclement weather put paid to our plans to play Padel, and instead, after lunch, we browsed the contemporary art gallery The Gallery at Steyn City, in association with Knysna Fine Art and Everard Read, and visited the beautiful decor and design store Cocoon Lifestyle by Bilala Mabuza, which is a tastefully curated space that offers a vision of the Steyn City lifestyle.
With the luxury of our apartment suite and a big-screen TV, we decided to stay in for the night in preparation for a full day on Saturday. Outside, a Carols concert had taken over the City Centre with residents streaming into the courtyard for a night of festive entertainment.
On Saturday morning, we made our way to Guild Restaurant, by Steyn City Hotel by Saxon where we sat outdoors on the terrace, ready for a tasty breakfast. Guild is a bistro-style eatery, located in the tree-filled piazza of the City Centre is relaxed, yet refined. Like all of the restaurants at Steyn City, it’s also open to residents and for outside bookings. The menu here offered unique breakfast dishes making it stand out from many hotel experiences – we enjoyed the Breakfast Seacuterie here, an unusual dish that checked lots of tasty boxes with its mix of peppered mackerel, smoked salmon trout and smoked snoek pate. However, the promised oysters weren’t in season.
With the sun now shining we made straight for the Lagoon, a standout feature of Steyn City. This vast lake-like pool at 300m in length is a gathering place for Steyn City denizens, from family groups intent on a day out to kids' parties. There are plenty of water activities available, from slides to sup boards, pedaloes to kayaks, and enough space for everyone to have a good time outdoors without disturbing anyone else. It’s brilliantly designed with a host of different outdoor spaces and of course a restaurant, Family Table, serving up casual mediterranean, tapas and souvla fare. Pizza is also a speciality here. On a Saturday afternoon, the souvla was turning, and happy-looking families were everywhere. Time at the pool stretched into the afternoon. We could have chosen the gym or more activities across this vast estate, but it seemed sensible to stay put.
For late lunch we then made our way to the legendary Cafe del Sol, a restaurant name we’ve been familiar with since Lucciana Treccani and her children, Chiara van de Spreng and Ryan Viljoen made it a destination in Olivedale, with their take on Northern Italian cuisine. We were in luck to have Luciana at the restaurant on the day, always the most gracious hostess. The food here is presented with flair, is generously portioned and with a heartiness that conveys the love this family has put into their restaurants. Great cocktails, fluffy pizza bread accompanying a stuffed calamari starter and a Norwegian Salmon Tartar. For mains we feasted on ravioli with gorgonzola, cream and umami onion marmalade and a pulled lamb ragu and rocket tagliatelle. Every mouthful a delight, we’ll definitely be back for theur homemade pasta dishes.
We left Steyn City utterly pacified by good food, and a sense of having escaped the hurried weekend which is the usual pace of Joburg.
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