Most of the back side of the house consists of walls of steel-framed windows, some of which open to a covered patio that wraps around the house.

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But with Ms. Ruggiero due to return to work after a maternity leave, she looked online anyway: She found a white, three-bedroom house with a stone patio, a large deck and a separate two-car garage.

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Visitors are admitted through an electric gate into a patio garden and then into the main house.

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La Cafeteria serves dinner and drinks in an old house with a wonderful outdoor patio under old, over-hanging trees.

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The Farmhouse Inn offers a small but attractive spa in the Carriage House, with a private patio cabana overlooking the pool and gardens.

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Owl House Backpackers offers pleasant self-catering accommodation in Allemann se Huisie, a garden cottage with a patio for braais (barbacues), and Aandster, a renovated Karoo house and former sculpture studio.

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There's a big, rustic dining hall, a frost-lined ice house, a hot tub big enough for a dolphin and an outdoor patio complete with a charming smoking tent.

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