Steenberg Estate is the site of the oldest farm in Cape Town, located in the suburb of Constantia.
Ras was granted a lease to cultivate the land by Simon van der Stel, then Governor of the Cape.
The farm was named Swaaneweide,[3] the “feeding place of the swans,” possibly in memory Ras’ hometown of Lubeck, on the Baltic East Coast of Germany.
The Louw’s retained ownership of the farm for the next 150 years until 1990, when it was purchased by Johannesburg Consolidated Investments (JCI) and redeveloped as a hotel, vineyard and golf course.
Steenberg was also rated as a Top Hotel in Africa and the Middle East in the 2011 Conde Nast Traveller US Reader’s Choice Awards.