Blinds in Chartwell

Nothing to shade you out here

Chartwell is the agricultural-holdings belt just beyond the Fourways estate ring, split by Cedar Avenue into the North Estates and the Country Estates. Plots are large, houses are set well back, and the built form spreads out — a main house, a stable block, outbuildings. There is no neighbouring wall within a hundred metres to take the edge off a low sun.

The practical consequence: elevations are wide and unshaded, and homes are usually turned toward the paddock or the river view, which means long runs of window all facing the same way. When the sun gets round to that side, it gets to the entire house at once.

What works on a smallholding

• Sunscreen rollers along verandah and living-room runs — you keep the pasture view, which is the whole reason for living here.
• Blockout rollers in bedrooms; on a plot with no street lighting, blockout is genuinely dark.
• Timber venetians in farmhouse rooms with exposed beams — tilt suits a room where the light changes hour by hour.
• Folding-arm awnings over the verandah, with a wind sensor, because an open plot gives a storm a clean run.
• Zip screens down the open side of a stoep — mesh in channels holds against wind where a loose drop blind flaps.
• Aluminium venetians in tack rooms, sculleries and stable offices, where dust and damp rule timber out.

Access and measuring

Long driveways and a gravel-to-tar mix are normal here, so tell us if a gate needs opening or a dog needs warning — it saves everyone a phone call from the road. We measure the whole property in one visit, main house and outbuildings together, and quote them separately so you can do the house now and the cottage later.

Book a free measure in Chartwell