Karoo People
Sophie’s Choice, Willowmore
Dec
Sophia loves them so much she even has a rustic one swinging from the top of her henhouse at Keurfontein farm just south of the town.
Originally from the old Transvaal, Sophia visited Willowmore in 2006. She’d bought a house there, sight unseen. She drove up with a friend, to see what she had acquired.
It turned out to have been a great buy. But more serendipity was in store. In Willowmore she met Pepi van der Merwe, local legend and hotelier.
He picks up the story: “I saw her and a friend walking around town. I asked: do you drink red wine? And she said yes. I said great, I’m not finished with you yet. A week after that, I asked her to marry me.”
The wedding took place three months later.
What Sophia brought to Willowmore was style. And of course, more chandeliers than the town had ever seen. Her eccentric shop is full of great food and magnificent paraphernalia.
Sophia parts reluctantly with pieces she loves and at times there can be so many items saying ‘not for sale’ that her place resembles a museum with a restaurant attached to it.
One of the great things she and Pepi have in common is a love for old Karoo houses.
“Because if you restore a Karoo heritage house, it’s like uncovering a treasure chest.”
- www.sophieschoice.co.za
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Sophie’s Choice, Willowmore.
Ai tog, hoekom kan so iets nie met my gebeur nie???
We passed through Willowmoore some frw years ago and stopped for tea at Sophie’s. An experience that we still recall with great pleasure on many levels. We are saddened to read that her treasure trove of many levels is now closed. Maar nou ja!!!
Hi Eddie
Happy to say Sophia has now moved to Uniondale. You can find the new Sophie’s in the main road, in and around the old Standard Bank.