About Blanco

Blanco was originally owned by George Whitehead, born 20 November 1822. He married Catherina Margarietha on 16 September 1840. They had two children: Martha Louisa (born 8 December 1850) and Mary (born 10 December 1854).

This is where the two predominant flat-topped mountains — Mary and Martha — get their names from. Those peaks still mark the skyline today, as they have for every guest who has ever arrived at Blanco.

The story of Blanco as we know it today began when John Henry King's daughter Lillian married Bert Ryan on 10 April 1911. John Henry purchased Blanco and gifted it to the young couple. Bert and Lil farmed the land until 1945, when their eldest son John Raymond (Ray) took over.

To provide country-style hospitality at its very best.

That has not changed since Lil and Bert first opened their doors to paying guests in the 1920s. The table is still one large table. The food is still cooked with intention. The air is still the thing that brings people back.

The Winterberg region was once ranked by a National Geographic survey as the second healthiest climate in the world — second only to an area near Christchurch, New Zealand. Doctors regularly recommended the area to children suffering from asthma, many of whom returned home with dramatically improved health.

Today, Blanco Guest Farm sits on 5,000 hectares of Karoo plateau — private, quiet, and largely unchanged. No suburb, no shopping centre, no noise. Just sky, veld, and space.