The history of Riet Vlei dates back to 1842 after the Voortrekkers came into Natal. Some of these Voortrekkers were French Huguenots that traveled / trekked up from the Cape by wagon.

Gert Maritz, Piet Retief and Dingaan are great historical names of Natal’s history. Some of these Voortrekkers, Gert Maritz, Piet Retief and others, went to see Dingaan about settling in Natal. The women and children were left behind with a few men to look after them. Amongst the group left behind was the Marais family. Thys Marais had a boil preventing him from riding his horse comfortably.

Riet Vlei Farm was established in 1842 as an original land grant. Your host Shaun Marais Renton is a fifth generation owner of the original homestead built in the 1850’s.

Various modifications were made to the house over the century but we have done our best to restore it to its original beauty. The interior has been decorated as it would have been over one hundred years ago with many of the old photographs depicting the family and events of the past.

The guestrooms were built in the early 1900’s as Shaun’s great-grandparents ran the farm as a guest farm from 1907 to 1933. These have been restored and renovated so that creature comforts are taken care of.