Stanford Heritage Committee

We work with Heritage Western Cape and Overstrand Municipality to protect how our village looks. In 2025 the committee reviewed 51 submissions: building plans and town planning applications, including EIAs and HIAs. By the end of May 2026 it had reviewed 16 more. A new applicant feedback form makes the process clearer for everyone. With the Planning Group, the committee drew up a precinct plan for Stanford East, which has gone to Overstrand Municipality for feedback. It is also discussing a Streetscape Design Framework with the municipality.

Heritage Western Cape rates Stanford the third best-preserved village in the Western Cape, after Montagu and parts of Greyton.

The historic core is a proclaimed Heritage Area. Its buildings date from the late 1700s to the early 1900s:

• the simple cottage;
• the Victorian barn, simple or adapted, and thatched;
• the eclectic villa or gabled house, in Victorian or Cape Dutch Revival style.

Planning to build or renovate? See the Stanford Style booklet below. Under the National Building Regulations, all plans must be prepared by a SACAP-registered practitioner. For advice, get in touch via heritage@stanfordconservation.org.

Our Heritage Committee brings together heritage architects, engineers and villagers who share a love of Stanford's historic buildings.

St Thomas Church & Oulap Hall. See the dedicated St Thomas Church & Oulap Hall page for the restoration story, masterplan and how to donate.

Buzzy Beez Restoration. The Grade IIIA thatched Buzzy Beez building on the Okkie Smuts grounds was restored in 2019 and is now the school library. See the dedicated Buzzy Beez Restoration page.