Dylan Lewis Studio & Sculpture Garden

The Dylan Lewis Studio and Sculpture Garden occupies seven hectares on the slopes of Stellenbosch Mountain, a landscape where bronze sculptures emerge from fynbos and indigenous gardens to create one of South Africa's most remarkable cultural destinations. This is not a wine estate in the conventional sense — it is the creative home and life's work of Dylan Lewis, one of the country's most internationally acclaimed living sculptors, who has transformed the property into an immersive outdoor gallery that draws visitors from around the world.

Born in Johannesburg in 1964, Lewis is celebrated for his bronze depictions of great cats, human forms, shamanic figures, and monumental abstracted fragments. His work has been exhibited on every continent and holds a permanent place in major collections worldwide. The sculpture garden project began almost by accident in 2009, when Lewis hired an excavator on a whim and began shaping the contours of the hillside. What started as an impulse became a decade-long labour that now features more than 60 sculptures carefully sited along four kilometres of walking paths.

The garden draws on the principles of Japanese design, particularly the wabi-sabi aesthetic that celebrates transience, imperfection, and the beauty of natural processes. Paths wind through indigenous plantings, past water features, and beneath the mountain's granite outcrops. Around each corner, sculptures appear as though they have grown from the earth itself — a leopard poised on a ridge, a human torso half-absorbed by stone, a shamanic figure emerging from the undergrowth. The effect is meditative and deeply moving.

Visits are by appointment only, and the intimate scale ensures that the garden never feels crowded. Guided tours are available for those who want deeper insight into the artistic and botanical vision behind the space. The property looks out over the Stellenbosch vineyards towards the distant ocean, and while wine is not the primary focus, the setting places it firmly within the winelands landscape that visitors to the region come to explore.

For those seeking something beyond the cellar door, the Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden offers a profound encounter with art, nature, and the Stellenbosch Mountain terrain — a destination that enriches any visit to the Cape Winelands.