Blinds in Franschhoek

Franschhoek — "French Corner" — takes its name from the Huguenot refugees who settled the valley in the late 1680s, and the wine farms they planted are the reason the town is now South Africa’s food-and-wine capital as much as a village. Cape Dutch gables line Huguenot Street, but the working end of the valley, up toward the pass and out along the R45 toward Val de Vie, is increasingly contemporary: glass-walled tasting rooms, guesthouse suites, and homes built to look straight down the valley at the mountains on both sides.

That closed-in geometry is the specification story here. The valley holds the heat rather than letting it drift out to sea, and depending on which wall of the valley a home sits against, a room can get direct sun for a shorter, far more intense window than an open site would — brutal glare for two or three hours rather than a gentler day-long exposure. Guesthouse and estate suites with a valley view in particular tend to be glazed generously in exactly the direction that problem comes from.

Because so much of Franschhoek’s built environment is heritage-listed or guesthouse-let, we quote with both the facade and the operating hours in mind — shading that looks right from Huguenot Street, and blinds robust enough for a room that turns over guests every few days.