Garsfontein

Garsfontein, Pretoria

East of the city centre of Pretoria is the leafy neighbourhood of Garsfontein that manages to maintain an impression of calm and tranquillity due mostly to the tree-lined avenues peppered with jacarandas, despite being close to major highways and only 3 kilometres from one of the largest shopping centres in Pretoria.

Garsfontein is a relatively new suburb by comparison with those more sedate suburbs that line the centre of the city, but houses here are large, and their gardens green and cultivated, even if the neighbourhood has a propensity for townhouses and cluster developments due to the recent boom. The sense of true suburbia predominates nonetheless, and some of the clusters are thatched, giving them a distinctly earthy and rural feel.

Garsfontein is well organised - churches, private hospitals, and Menlyn shopping centre, its myriad shops and entertainment facilities are all close by, and access to the N4 and N1 is effortless. Woodhill Golf Estate, an 18-hole championship course designed by Peter Matkovich, the architect also responsible for Spier, Leopard Rock and Silver Lakes, not only hosts the South African PGA Championship but also provides a distinct and challenging golfer's game and is situated in Garsfontein.

If it's a little piece of green you're after, then the 3000 hectare Rietvlei Nature Reserve lies just east of Irene, south of Pretoria, with plenty of game and within easy distance of Garsfontein.