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Summerhill Guest Estate
An Escape to Tranquillity
Summerhill Guest Estate, home of The LivingRoom–an award-winning dining experience, is a family-owned, sustainability-led, luxury guest estate in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Estate is well-positioned between Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal’s Coastline and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi National Park, in Cowies Hill, 10km away from Durban’s CBD.
It’s the perfect place to stop over for those travelling down the coast, looking for an escape from the bustle of the city in its Suburban tranquillity and is ideally situated for the corporate traveller, often frequented by executives and senior management doing business in the surrounding areas.
Summerhill boasts nine elegant en-suite corporate traveller rooms, as well as three junior and three luxury suites. The indigenous gardens are a tranquil, calm and reinvigorating, an environment for guests to unwind and enjoy nature.
The team’s authentic care and hospitality, play out in their honest approach to its guests, with a focus on warmth and a touch of homeliness and underlined by advanced security.
The LivingRoom
Established 2017
Situated within Summerhill Guest Estate, The LivingRoom is one of the country’s most accoladed dining experiences.
Chef Johannes Richter tells the story of KwaZulu-Natal’s culinary diversity through his use of hyper-endemic ingredients, ancient processes, modern thinking and classic techniques. His sustainably centred fine-dining menu is paired with premium South African wines and exceptional service.
Opening in 2017, The LivingRoom started on the premise of bringing a supper club to life at Summerhill Guest Estate. Johannes, having returned home from abroad with his wife, Johanna, set about opening the soon-to-be fine-dining destination restaurant in Cowies Hill.
Johannes runs the kitchen, while Johanna runs the front-of-house and the wine programme.
The Food
The multi-course menu–available as a six or eight-courses– is driven by a hyper-seasonal and endemic approach to cooking.
All ingredients are sourced locally, with a strong focus on sustainability and ethical farming practices.
The Wine
The extensive wine programme overseen by Johanna Richter, offers a well-considered and comprehensive list of premium South African wines.
The menu is available with a pairing option, which sees a choice selection of these wines expertly paired as well as locally sourced ingredients compiled in a well-thought-through non-alcoholic pairing and containing in-house syrups, kombuchas, juices, tonics made in-house and a carefully curated cocktail list.
Johannes Richter
Chef
Chef Johannes Richter is the chef and co-owner of The LivingRoom at Summerhill Guest Estate.
German-born and Durban-raised, the chef trained at Michelin-star establishments abroad before returning home to open The LivingRoom. His love of local ingredients and strong sustainable ethos see him combine his classic training with both ancient and modern techniques to celebrate KwaZulu-Natal’s culinary diversity with every dish.
Read more about Johannes
Johannes has been the driving force behind the use of hyper-local produce and indigenous ingredients in South Africa’s top kitchens. His dishes, predominantly based on three ingredients, allow these often unheard-of, unique and distinctly South African elements the opportunity to be showcased at their very best.
Food has always been a passion for Johannes – one which was largely shaped through a childhood spent traveling both within South Africa and into Southern Africa, where he had the opportunity to experience the food markets and farms of the region, learn about local produce, gain an understanding of culinary traditions, and embrace the richness of different food cultures.
This instilled a deep respect and love for local cuisines in the aspirant chef, which continues to this day.
In 2010, while studying for a statistics degree, Johannes decided to pursue his real passion and took up an apprenticeship in the Black Forest region of Germany. It was there that he was classically trained in French cuisine and exposed to a myriad of cooking techniques at Michelin-star standard – where his career as a chef truly began.
He continued to stage abroad, working his way up through the ranks of Michelin-starred restaurants in Germany – most notably Berlin’s three-star Michelin restaurant Rutz – where he met his wife, Johanna.
Johannes and Johanna returned to South Africa in 2017 – now with two young children – and set about joining the family business, Summerhill Guest Estate, and opened The LivingRoom.
His cooking is a true celebration of KwaZulu-Natal’s culinary and cultural diversity and sees him delve into both the ingredients of the region and the nostalgia of growing up within it – both his own and that of his team – creating a dynamic, local, and deeply respectful dining experience.
Chef Johannes combines the ingredients of the province with his Michelin training to create a constantly evolving, ingredient-driven menu, which sees him in constant collaboration with both nature and his suppliers to showcase the season at its best.
When not in the kitchen, Johannes can be found outdoors – whether tending to the gardens, spearfishing, foraging, bow hunting or running. He is currently training for his fourth Comrades Marathon.
His unique approach to cooking, unwavering dedication to sustainability, and relentless pursuit of excellence, rooted in identity, have seen Chef Johannes and The LivingRoom lauded with a host of accolades and recognitions.
Rooms
An Escape to Tranquility
Boasting spacious and elegant en-suite bedrooms together with lush green park-like gardens, Summerhill Guest Estate is a tranquil, calm and reinvigorating environment to unwind and relax.
Each room has been uniquely decorated and is named after a South African Jazz musician who has played and stayed at Summerhill Guest Estate.
The team’s authentic care and interest play out in their honest approach to guests, which, along with their dedication to hospitality, makes the estate a homely, welcoming and relaxing retreat for all who visit.
A keen eye and dedication to attention to detail ensures that every visitor is well looked after, accommodated and feels comfortable. Top-notch security, secure parking and controlled access ensure guests’ utmost safety while on premises.
Luxury Suite
from R 2300 per person sharing
Corporate Traveller
from R 1400 per person sharing
Sustainability
Written by Chef Johannes Richter
When we set out to open The LivingRoom, our goal from the very beginning was to create a sustainable restaurant.
Since 2017, almost nine years ago, we have worked tirelessly to run a restaurant that follows responsible practices — for the planet and for the well-being of our team.
However, our passion for living in harmony with nature, and our commitment to preserving its dwindling ecosystems, began many years earlier. As a child, I spent time on my grandparents’ farms, where traditional permaculture was practiced.
There, minimizing waste and respecting ingredients weren’t even up for discussion — they were simply a way of life, shaped by the effort and care invested into every task.
Growing up in this beautiful country, rich in biodiversity and natural habitats (some still untouched by humans), it became clear that protecting these spaces wasn’t just important; it was a responsibility that naturally became part of how we lived.
Later, after a few failed attempts at formal study, it was this upbringing — and a deep love and respect for both farmed and wild produce — that led me to cooking: something I’ve enjoyed since childhood.
Contact us
To book or for any and all enquiries please call or email us
Tel or WhatsApp:
+27 63 529 1966
9 Belvedale Road, Cowies Hill, Durban
Co-ordinates
-29.826915, 30.892843
S29˚ 49.6149′, E030˚ 53.5706′
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