The History of The Old Mushroom Farm, to Creative Village
- The Old Mushroom Farm
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
This September, for Heritage Month, we're looking back at where it all started. The Old Mushroom Farm in Howick, KZN Midlands, has come a long way.
Long before there were coffee shops, artisan studios, places to stay, live events, and people wandering around with dogs, The Old Mushroom Farm was, well… a mushroom farm.
When the mushroom-farming ended, the growing tunnels, farm sheds, and old staff housing were left without a use. But architect and owner Nick Crooks saw potential in the old infrastructure and set about breathing new life into the dead spaces.
Interested in what the mushroom farm was like before? Check out our previous blog story for more History on the farming days:
Working with what was already here, Nick and his team transformed old agricultural buildings into unique hospitality experiences, spaces for artisans to work, and venues for community to gather. There were limitations in working with existing farm infrastructure, but the constraints led Nick to opportunities for creative design thinking.
There was no grand masterplan for every detail. Much of The Old Mushroom Farm as we know it today grew incrementally as Nick’s inspiration that arose. Over the years (and still ongoing) walls have been bashed out. Steel trusses, welded. Concrete pillars, moulded. Skylights installed. Old spaces have been opened up to light and air, stripped back and re-imagined. Today, the repurposed farm buildings house a different kind of activity. Dark mushroom-growing rooms gradually became spaces for people to create, eat, work, stay and gather.
The landscape has also become part of the transformation story. Alongside the farm building renovations, previously farmed landscapes have been given room to recover, invasive plants removed and indigenous trees planted. Aloes have been propagated by the hundreds, and we've established a bee apiary to support pollinators. Overgrown lawns were converted to the community food garden, an organic vegetable garden that contributes to our Staff's meals and offers our accommodation guests a harvest experience. The Farm today is a dance between the old and the new, the built and the cultivated.
If you're looking for things to do in Howick or the KZN Midlands, come and see how The Old Mushroom Farm has evolved into a creative village.
So much transformation has taken place, and the farm continues to grow. From the inside, it can be hard to see. So this Heritage Month, we're celebrating the history of our place. Although there are no longer mushrooms, we love looking back at these old photos to remember the dark tunnels, the smell of mushroom compost, and the years of designing and building, to appreciate just how far we've come.
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