Holiday homes for the rich in Ridgeways

By Pocyline Karani

The lush green-forested area is dotted with rivers and dams that flow through private homes standing on huge chunks of land on what used to be colonial white highlands of central uplands Kenya.

Located seven kilometres from Nairobi’s central business district, Ridgeways is one hood where you are likely to find old-school colonial houses complete with stables, servant quarters and a desolate shell of a coffee milling plant. This is the rich man’s woods’ where the elite enjoy trappings of luxurious homes designed in timeless elegance, sophisticated style and old world architectural influence.

A major attraction to this hood is its good soils, forested landscape and cool climate. The first thing that hits you as you walk down Ridgeways is the serenity. There is no rumble of commuter traffic, only the splish-splash of water flowing down shallow streams, a phenomenon common during the rainy season. The air tastes fresh and clean.

A section of Kigwa Road leading to Windsor Golf and Country Club in Ridgeways

The defining quality of this protected environment is the country fresh air, a quiet environment away from the polluted city and an ideal home location for raising children.

Almost all roads are tarmacked to the gate. Barriers are erected on major road entrances to record all vehicles coming through and to freeze entry to any heavy commercial vehicles.

This is where ministers, MPs, key parastatal heads, powerful businessmen, directors of blue chip corporates and international organisations stay.

Prime land

It helps that several embassies from Europe, North America and the United Nations complex are just a few kilometres away. With the construction of the exclusive five-star Windsor Golf Hotel and Country club (a Victorian-style golf and country resort), value of property in Ridgeways went up.

Land here is considered prime and real estate developers are gradually turning what were once rich coffee farms into lucrative holiday homes for family getaways. A plot the size 0.66 acres (slightly more than a half-acre) sells for Sh13.8 million.

In this prime suburb, rent for a double-storey family house with four bedrooms, all ensuite, ranges between Sh140,000 and Sh160,000. For business and pleasure seekers, the fully serviced and furnished Windsor Park luxury homes are ideal as they overlook the premier golf resort. Other luxury homes are built on the lower ridge.

Deliberate landscaping

Clear vistas to the Victorian design hotel, the evergreen golf range and the Kigwa Dam guarantee that views for houses facing the hotel will forever be safeguarded.

Deliberate landscaping and a well-designed perimeter wall protect those houses facing the South. And for those who enjoy bird watching, there is an abundance of local and exotic varieties in this hood.

It is also not unusual to bump into antelopes, hares, dik dik, sykes monkeys and guinea fowls in the Windsor ecosystem courtesy of the many man-made water features that dot the area.