Stay Above the Old Farm Shed: The Loft Apartment at The Old Mushroom Farm
We’re here to tell you the story of how an old farm shed became one of the most interesting places to stay at The Old Mushroom Farm.
Perched above the converted barn that now houses & Kin event venue, The Loft is a spacious two-bedroom apartment with panoramic views across the Community Food Garden, the farm’s distinctive buildings, and the Umngeni valley in the distance.
The Loft Apartment sleeps up to four people and combines a fully equipped self-catering kitchen, open-plan living space, two bathrooms and extra-length beds with the kind of considered interiors that make you want to look a little closer. Handmade encaustic tiles, custom Art Deco-inspired kitchen cabinetry, mid-century-modern furniture and a wall of glass give the apartment a character all of its own.
For guests looking for somewhere a little different to stay in the KZN Midlands, The Loft offers a private perch above one of the farm’s most remarkable transformations.
A new life for an old farm shed
To understand The Loft, it helps to look at what sits beneath it.
Before it was renovated into a modern conference venue and unique accommodation, the building was a working farm shed. Not so long ago, it was filled with scraps of roof sheeting and vintage cars. And before that, it was the hay barn associated with the farm’s mushroom-growing days, where bales were stacked high and dark, rich compost was made.
Today, it is difficult to reconcile those earlier versions with what stands overlooking the Community Garden.
The original steel frame of the barn was retained and became something of a skeleton for the new building. Around it, brick, steel and glass have been assembled into a clean Modernist facade, creating a contemporary event and accommodation space while allowing traces of the old agricultural building to remain visible.
Look closely from inside & Kin, or from The Loft upstairs, and you can still spot the original beams of the shed frame between the brickwork.
Architect Nick Crooks was interested in working with the buildings that already existed at The Old Mushroom Farm. More broadly, his goal for the property has been to transform its disused farm buildings and mushroom-growing tunnels into people-oriented spaces. He has a particular passion for intentionally converting old infrastructure for new purposes: finding ways to work with what is already there rather than simply building more.
The brief for the old shed was to create an event space for conferences and special occasions, and this building was an ideal candidate. But while working on the barn roof, Nick was struck by the unique vantage point its height offered. Looking over the farm buildings felt a little like looking across a city skyline, while the view towards the uMngeni Valley opened up even further from above.
The view was too good to waste.
Nick decided to add an upstairs apartment to the event space, creating The Loft and making use of a vantage point that would otherwise have remained inaccessible to guests.
The height of the shed presented another interesting design challenge. Nick loved the feeling of the original double-volume space, describing something almost cathedral-like about its scale. When the Drakondale Choir later performed in & Kin, the acoustics seemed to prove the point.
But all that vastness doesn't necessarily lend itself to a cosy couch by the fireside on a chilly Midlands day. Rather than using the entire ceiling volume for accommodation, Nick divided the space: retaining the double-volume ceiling for the & Kin auditorium while introducing a floor into the front portion of the shed.
The result is a more intimate gathering space in the ground-floor Lobby, with a private apartment tucked above it. The Loft, in other words, was not designed in isolation. It emerged from the building that was already there: its structure, its height, its history and, ultimately, its view.
An apartment with a view
The Loft occupies the first floor in this architectural transformation, accessed by a flight of stairs.
Upstairs, the experience changes. The industrial bones of the building give way to a comfortable apartment designed around space, light and views.
From the main bedroom, a striking floor-to-ceiling glass frontage looks out over the Community Food Garden and towards the valley beyond. In the distance, Albert Falls Dam stretches into the distance.
It is the sort of view that changes with the weather and the time of day: vivid green and washed clean after a summer thunderstorm, hazy in the Midlands mist, and aglow in evening light as the day winds down.
The windows bring the outdoors right into the room, but there is no need to surrender your holiday lie-in. Luxurious blockout curtains can be drawn across the glass for when the sun comes up too early.
Below, the entrance terrace is framed by decorative brick paving designed by Mandy Crooks, which waves in a series of naive botanical motifs. From above, the pattern becomes part of the view itself. The paving went on to inspire the & Kin logo, bringing a small piece of the building's story into its identity.
A farm stay with design sensibility
The Loft is no ordinary holiday apartment. Its interiors are part of the same design story as the buildings around it. The interior design is connected to the farm’s wider ethos of artisan creating, and working with what already exists.
The furniture and fittings include custom made designer pieces alongside vintage finds. The kitchen cabinet, designed by Crooks Goods and made right here on The Old Mushroom Farm, is a bright orange Deco-inspired kitchen unit with shiny stainless steel counter top, matching the industrial-orange electricity box. This alongside the emerald green couch and the cream fireplace adds pops of colour into the open-plan living space. Unique finishes like the retro washhand basins in the bathrooms make the space truly one of a kind. Handmade encaustic tiles, also by Crooks Goods, add pattern and texture to the minimal architecture.
Staying at The Loft Apartment
The Loft sleeps up to four guests and works well for families, friends or two couples travelling together. The two bedrooms are private and comfortable with unique views and plenty of space to settle in. The extra length beds are made up with 100% cotton bedding, with cotton bath towels provided.
The Loft apartment includes:
Two bedrooms
Main bedroom with king XL bed and en-suite bathroom
Second bedroom with two single XL beds, or one king XL bed
Two bathrooms, both with showers
Open-plan lounge and dining area
Fully equipped kitchen for self-catering
100% cotton bedding
Bath towels
Fresh milk and ground coffee
Breakfast included
Rates
Adults: R900 per person per night
Children aged 3–12: R410 per person per night
Children aged 0–3: Free of charge
A private perch above the farm
The Loft Apartment is a unique hospitality experience where you become a part of the building's story.
The Loft has evolved out of an existing landscape, and for this reason feels like it belongs. The apartment sits within an old agricultural structure that has been given another life. From upstairs, you get a unique perspective of the farm. The Community Garden at its front in the North, the farm buildings spread out behind it, and the valley opens up to the East beyond.
With a stay at the loft apartment, there is fresh milk and artisan ground coffee for the morning and breakfast waiting a short walk away at Home Slice Cafe. The Loft is your own cozy retreat from which to explore The Old Mushroom Farm Midlands beyond.
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