Franschhoek · Cape Winelands
A Section 34 gable doesn't take kindly to a new fixing, so in this village most shading happens inside the sash, not on the wall. Made-to-measure blinds, roller shutters and awnings for Franschhoek's heritage cottages, guest houses and wine-estate homes.
Franschhoek, considered
Gables on buildings over 60 years old are protected under Section 34 of the National Heritage Resources Act — any visible change needs a Heritage Western Cape permit before a municipal building plan is even considered. Along Huguenot Road and the streets around it, that makes an inside-mount blind the fastest, safest answer far more often than a facade change.
Franschhoek sits inside its own horseshoe of the Franschhoek, Wemmershoek and Groot Drakenstein mountains. As the peaks cool faster than the air above them, that cooled air drains down into the valley most evenings — a predictable event, not a random gust, and the reason every outdoor product here gets a wind sensor timed for dusk, not just for storms.
The village's Cape Dutch and Victorian stock carries small-paned, deep-set sash and casement windows built for thick masonry, not the frameless glazing newer Cape Town homes use — a different measuring and mounting job to almost anywhere else we work.
How we specify for Franschhoek
A Franschhoek specification starts with what the facade is allowed to show, not just which way the window faces. This is the sequence a free in-home measure works through, window by window.
West-facing shopfront and cottage windows on one side of the street take a materially harder late-afternoon sun than the row facing east — the same village, two different specs.
Anything visible from Huguenot Road or Main Road on a building over 60 years old needs Heritage Western Cape sign-off before it needs a tape measure — an inside-mount blind sidesteps that conversation entirely.
Any awning, screen or external venetian gets a motorised wind sensor set for dusk, when the valley's own drainage wind comes down off the peaks, not only for storm gusts.
Small-paned heritage sash and casement on the old stock, wide new glass on the estate-style additions behind them — each measured on its own terms.
A gallery shopfront, a guest-cottage bedroom and a tasting-room wall of glass each earn a different product, not one default across the whole property.
The collection
From a timber venetian built for a heritage sash to an external venetian that stops the afternoon sun before it reaches a tasting-room wall — the right product for each opening, inside or outside the gable.
Warm 50mm slats built for a deep-set heritage sash — tilt for filtered light on a protected gable, without a single new fixing outside the glass.
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Blockout for a guest-cottage bedroom, sunscreen mesh for a living room that wants to keep its mountain view — made to the exact opening.
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Sheer and solid bands sliding past each other — privacy with light for a street-facing gallery apartment or guest suite.
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Crisp slats for a kitchen or wet room, powder-coated to shrug off a valley winter without complaint.
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Trapped-air cells insulate a solid-walled cottage bedroom both ways — through a hot valley summer and a cold, wet winter night.
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For the newer wine-estate additions behind an old street frontage — fabric drops from a slim ceiling slot, hardware fully hidden.
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Gable-end glass and roof lights on double-volume estate additions — guided systems that hold flat on the angle, almost always motorised.
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One remote for a whole wall of vineyard-facing glass — schedules and sun sensors that do the tilting so you don't have to.
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Wide aluminium louvres mounted outside the glass on a newer estate elevation, stopping west sun before it ever reaches the room.
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Aluminium slats roll down over the glass on their own track, taking the afternoon heat and evening wind before either reaches the room.
Shading, not security. Our roller shutters are made for sun, heat and glare control on the outside of the glass. They are not security-rated shutters — that is a different product, which we can quote on request.
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Post-free shade over a gallery courtyard or wine-estate terrace, motorised with a wind sensor timed for the valley's evening drainage wind.
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Wind-locked mesh that turns a restaurant courtyard or terrace into a usable room after the mountain wind comes down at dusk.
Ask about this →Plus motorised curtain tracks and vertical & panel blinds for wide glass doors. Ask about your windows →
In the home
How it works
No showroom trip, no guessing at a heritage sash from a photograph — the consultation happens at the window, and at the facade rules around it.
A couple of minutes on the form or in chat — cottage or estate, which side catches the afternoon sun, whether the street-facing wall is a protected gable.
A consultant visits with samples, measures every opening precisely, and checks what the facade allows before recommending inside or outside mount.
Itemised and honest, with lead times confirmed upfront — no pressure to decide on the spot.
Manufactured to your exact openings and installed cleanly, with an operation demo before we leave.
Where we work
Questions
Usually, yes. An inside-mount blind — a timber venetian or a blockout roller — needs no new fixing on the facade itself, so it sits outside the Section 34 permit process entirely. Anything that changes what's visible from the street, like an external shutter box or a new awning bracket, is the conversation that needs Heritage Western Cape sign-off first.
The wind that matters here isn't a daytime gust — it's the cool air draining down off the Franschhoek, Wemmershoek and Groot Drakenstein peaks most evenings as they cool faster than the air above them. Every awning, screen and external venetian we fit gets a motorised wind sensor, timed to retract automatically as that evening drainage sets in, not only during a storm.
A consultant visits with fabric and slat samples, measures every window precisely, and — on an older street-facing property — checks what the gable and heritage overlay actually allow before recommending a product. It costs nothing and carries no obligation.
Yes — timber venetians and inside-mount rollers for the village's deep-set sash and casement stock, and motorised roller, concealed or external systems for a newer wine-estate wall of glass behind an older frontage. Every specification starts with a free measure at the actual window.
Chain tensioners are fitted as standard on anything corded, and we'll steer a nursery, playroom or family guest room toward wand, cordless or motorised options with nothing left dangling to reach.
No. Ours are shading shutters, built for sun, heat and glare control on the outside of the glass, and they're a genuinely different product from a security-rated shutter. If security shutters are what you need, we can quote that separately on request.
Ready when you are
Send the form and one of our expert consultants will contact you shortly to arrange your free in-home measure.
Request my call-back →Get your quote
Tell us a little about the windows — and whether the street-facing wall is a protected gable. A consultant calls you back, arranges a time that suits you, and arrives with samples you can judge in your own light.