In the quiet valley of Johannesdal, where the mountains fold softly between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, a new creative space has appeared that feels less like a gallery and more like a way of living.
At Villa Verde, art hangs on white walls downstairs, while upstairs artists live and work for three weeks at a time. Outside, pigs root through the soil, chickens wander between vegetable beds and the smell of fresh bread drifts from a small farm café.
It is the kind of place where culture and daily life blur into one another.
The project was founded by Danish stylist and curator Lonnie Castle and her husband Mathew Castle. The couple live next door to the gallery with their three children on the small farm that surrounds it.
“I wanted to create a space for our family and friends, a sanctuary where we can enjoy life in every way,” Lonnie says. “The concept is very simple. We all want fresh food, music, art, love, nature and beauty around us.”
At its heart, Villa Verde is exactly that: a family farm where life unfolds in everyday rhythms — eating, working, growing and creating — but where visitors are warmly invited to share the experience.
“Sharing is the way forward in my beliefs,” she says.
Step inside the gallery and the simplicity of the space allows the art to breathe. White walls, generous light and a large picture window draw the eye upward to the mountains outside. “That mountain is an art piece in itself,” Lonnie says with a smile. “Almost too perfect a picture.”
Here the landscape becomes part of the exhibition.
Villa Verde opened in January 2026 with an exhibition by Danish sculptor Josefine Winding. Her show, Roots, explored heritage, landscape and belonging, themes that feel particularly fitting in a place built around land and community.
Winding’s sculptures have a quiet, contemplative presence. Influenced by natural forms — roots, soil and plant structures — they are organic and tactile rather than highly polished. Minimal yet grounded, the shapes appear almost excavated from the earth rather than designed. In the context of Villa Verde, sculptures about roots emerging from the soil of a working farm feel perfectly at home.
Her residency was followed by painter Pernelle Caspersen, whose practice moves between painting and drawing on wood, canvas and paper. Where Winding’s work is elemental and sculptural, Caspersen’s is expressive and gestural. Brush marks, wood grain and layered surfaces remain visible, giving the work a distinctly handmade quality that sits beautifully within Villa Verde’s relaxed, authentic atmosphere.
The artists shown at Villa Verde so far are part of the gallery’s residency programme. Artists live above the gallery for about three weeks, creating work during their stay before presenting an exhibition downstairs.
The result is something unusual: a gallery where the art on the walls was made upstairs. Visitors can see the creative process unfolding in real time.
Lonnie has noticed how strongly the valley shapes the artists’ work. “The artists calm down almost immediately,” she says. “They immerse themselves in the process. Some spend hours simply staring at the mountains.”
So far many of the artists have come from Scandinavia, reflecting Lonnie’s Danish roots, and she has observed how the South African landscape influences their work. “The colours become deeper and bolder,” she says. “Nature has a way of grounding people.”
Next door, the Petit Pantry café adds another dimension. Fresh bread, pastries, coffee and produce grown on the farm are served alongside Scandinavian homeware pieces curated by Lonnie, a subtle nod to her background in Copenhagen.
Food, she says, will always play a central role in the life of Villa Verde. “Food connects people. Conversation flows and friendships grow.”
Eventually the couple hope to host long communal lunches beneath the trees. “Something like a chilled picnic or a rustic farm-to-table lunch with good friends, great wine and live music,” Lonnie says. “Simple as that.”
Spend time here and the atmosphere begins to make sense. Villa Verde does not feel polished or overly curated. It feels real … slightly raw, handmade and quietly joyful. The kind of place where craft matters more than perfection and where life unfolds slowly across the day.
It brings to mind the atmosphere of a European art farm — somewhere between a Danish summer house and a Cape farmstead — where creativity is woven into daily rhythms rather than separated from them.
In a region known for polished wine estates and carefully curated tasting rooms, Villa Verde offers something refreshingly different. A gallery with chickens in the garden. An artist studio above the exhibition space. Bread baking while sculptures are installed. Art, land and living, all at the same table.
