The story of the 1906 villa
Villa Palmera was built in 1906, in the years when Mossel Bay's harbour was shipping ostrich feathers, wool and aloe to the world and the merchants who prospered built stone houses on the rise above the sea. Linkside, named for the golf links that once ran here, was the smart address.
Stone, wood and light
The villa's thick stone walls keep it cool in summer and warm in winter, and the original yellowwood floors and doors run the length of the hallway. When Andrea restored the house she kept everything that could be kept: the high ceilings, the sash windows, the hall, the loft under the eaves. What she added was light - patio doors opening every room to the garden - and the things a modern traveller needs: fibre, solar power, walk-in showers and proper beds.
A house of many lives
Over a century the villa has been a family home, a doctor's residence, and, for a stretch, a place slightly down on its luck. It has hosted a Covid-era writers' and artists' retreat, business travellers who came for a night and stayed a month, three-generation reunions and a great many dogs. The guestbook on the hall table tells the rest.
The palms
The name comes from the palm trees that shade the street and the garden and give Linkside its feel of somewhere further north. They are in the logo, on the room boards, and in the sound the wind makes at night.
Stay in the villa
The Main Villa is let as a whole house for families and groups; the cottages around the garden were added later. See the Main Villa.
Book direct for the best rate
Live availability and instant confirmation through our secure NightsBridge page. No booking-site commission, so more of your stay goes to Villa Palmera and to iOcean Trust.
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