When looking to swap farm for future house, the latter has to be something special to be able to compete in the mother of all lifestyle races.
Just ask Liz and Syd Lippstreu, who placed their bets on Sardinia Bay Golf & Wildlife Estate as the most suitable place to spend their golden years.
“We are very happy here,” Liz, who moved to the 100-hectare Gqeberha property just over two years ago, says.
“Having lived on a farm for such a long time it would have been difficult to move to town where you have people all over the show.”
The couple spent the last quarter of a century waking up to the spoils of nature at Grüne Weiden, situated close to the westernmost corner of the metro, so their concerns are understandable.
When they scouted for a new, more manageable home closer to town that would be a perfect match pace-wise, Sards sprinted to the top of the leaderboard.
Given their personal experience, and despite Syd still racing his Toyota Celica locally in the Retro Classic division, one could argue that the Lippstreus are experts at identifying a champion set-up when it comes to slow living.
While the lifestyle offered by gated communities such as Sards is attractive to families who have been around the block a few times, the alphabet generations are also tapping into the way of life that allows working and playing hard in equal measures.
Pre-pandemic, less than one per cent of advertised jobs offered the opportunity for hybrid or remote work. That figure has leapt to four per cent, opening up the avenues for employees to retreat from the drone of the city.
Apart from all the pros associated with so-called lifestyle estates, especially one that is at one with nature, Liz just loves that Sards is neither out of nor in town.
With the indigenous flora and otherwise natural surroundings already doing most of the talking, the Lippstreus never felt the urge to create a statement structure when they became the first to build on the Phase 3 portion of the property.
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“Our one daughter, her husband and their two kids visit us from the UK every year so we opted for a small three-bedroom house which can accommodate them when they’re here,” Liz explains.
“That’s all we need. We enjoy living a quiet life.”
Their second daughter and her spouse have recently relocated to GQ from the rat race-infested Johannesburg.
Will their next stop be Phase 4 at Sards?