Thatchfield Estate, Centurion

Tommy Ellis, father of Charles Ellis and the developer of Thatchfield Estate moved to the area in 1964, after selling his hotel “The Barbeque Ranch” later known as the “Kyalami Ranch”. He felt that the land between the two cities of Pretoria and Johannesburg would be a good investment and over the years bought up parts of the farm Olievenhoutbosch, which he named White Hills Farm due to the white quartz reef running through the farm. He built a landing strip and had a lot of fun growing mielies, sweet potatoes, and tunnel tomatoes. He also had a herd of jersey cattle and merino sheep. He built a number of cottages on the land, and the current Homeowners office and Security office are two of the original cottages that were built. In the 1970’s the land was incorporated into a municipality, and in 1974, Tommy Ellis submitted his own application for township development which lead to the approval of Thatchfield Close and Thatchfield Hills some thirty years later. In 2001, Charles Ellis managed to acquire the Property and finalized the township application which had been made thirty years previously. The development was known as Thatchfield due to the rolling fields of thatching grass.

The first phase was launched in 2003. Thatchfield Estates consists of Thatchfield Close Estate, Thatchfield Crescent Estate, Thatchfield Gardens Estate, Thatchfield Glen Estate, Thatchfield Manor Estate, Thatchfield Heights Estate and Thatchfield Hills Estate. The Estate falls within the suburb of The Reeds. The Estate consists of approximately 1,700 Properties (2011) and when completed will have in excess of 3,000 Properties. The Estate is popular with the middle class as it is very centrally situated in Centurion with the Reds Mall being just around the corner and with easy access to the R55 and N14. The Estate offers a prime location, dolomite free, excellent security and beautiful surrounds. Each of the Estates has its own access control and patrol guards. The on site security control room is manned 24 hours a day with a dedicated armed response vehicles.

The Estate has a nine hole golf course and driving range, two floodlit tennis courts, basketball court, an all purpose playing field, communal braai areas, jogging trails and excellent bird watching along the Rietspruit River. The type of properties varies and includes houses, townhouses, duets, apartments and vacant land. The freehold stands range in size from 400 sm to 1,500 sm. The price of houses ranges from R895,000 to R1,600,000 (2012) whilst the price of townhouses ranges from R725,000 to R1.000,000 (2012) Vacant stands are available and they cost in the region of R484,000 to R660,000 (2012). The suburb is bordered by the R28/N14 to the North, the R55 to the West, The Reeds to the East and Brooklands Lifestyle Estate to the South (Samrand Avenue). Access to Pretoria, Centurion, Johannesburg, OR Tambo and Lanseria Airport are easily made via these major roads.

Due to the fact that Thatchfield is one of the newer Estates in Centurion, it has become popular with up and coming professionals, young families and first time home buyers. Residents prefer Thatchfield for its convenient location, variety of dwellings, tranquil environment, indigenous trees and the fact that there is very little building activity in the area. As the Estate progresses and ages, so the gardens become more established and woody.

Shopping Centres in the immediate vicinity include the Reds Mall, Panorama Centre, Rooihuiskraal Centre, Centurion Mall, Blue Valley Mall and the San Ridge Mall. The area also has a number of smaller shopping centres with the usual cafes and convenience stores.

Sports facilities in The Reeds, of which Thatchfield is an Estate, include ballet, dance, virgin active gym, golf driving range, karate, squash and tennis, whilst the neighbouring suburbs of Rooihuiskraal, Wierda Park and Eldoraigne offers many other sports facilities.

The Estate is close to a number of schools including Southdown’s College (Private School), Midstream College (Private School), Rooihuiskraal Primary, Uitsig Primary, Uitsig High, Eldoraigne High, Zwartkop High, Bakenkop Primary, Hennopspark Primary, Springvale Primary and Wierda Park Primary. There are also fifteen Nursery Schools and crèches in The Reeds. Thatchfield will have their own school by January 2013 named Curro Thatchfield Private School.

Being an older established suburb, The Reeds has a total of four parks and public places, many of which follow the Rietspruit which runs through the middle of the suburb. The closest Post Office is the The Reeds Post Office on Bothrill Road. The library is situated in Tiptolhoekie, Rooihuiskraal. The Reeds has three Guest Houses, namely the Melody Guesthouse, Arbez Home Lodge and Chillies and Carnations Guesthouse.

Churches in the area include Baptist, Gereformeerde, NG, AGS, Christ is the way, New Life, Methodist, Apostolic, etc. The Unitas hospital is about 6km from The Reeds, the Highveld Medical Centre about 4km, the Southdown’s medical Centre about 4km and the Medipark medical Centre is in Panorama Road, Rooihuiskraal. The Provincial clinic is situated in Tiptol Road, Rooihuiskraal.

The closest police station is the Wierda Bridge Police Station situated in Valhalla.