About Jacobsbaai

A piece of land is not necessarily peace of mind
…but here you have both.

Jacobsbaai was originally founded as a small town on the farmland registered as 109 Jacobsbaai. The name is said to have evolved form the Frenchman Jacques Titius. He was a colonial trader in the West Coast. Tietiesbaai is also named after him and Jacobsbaai has a street called Titius. Another explanation for the name is that the English king entrusted the piece of land to a local know as ‘Jacob.’

A company known as Kiron Holdings, owned by Deon Meyer and Shaun Keegan, acquired the choice seafront part of the farm Jacobsbaai in the 80’s and kept it for later development. Spanning over some 2 kilometres of most beautiful coastline encompassing seven bays starting with the legendary Jacobsbaai.

When Nic and Marie Tredoux returned from the Transvaal to retire in their place of birth, they bought the rest of Jacobsbaai in a company know as Forellendam. Together with Deon Meyer the dream of a West Coast Village was born. The charm and character of vernacular architecture of the old West Coast were to be the norm with spacious layout of village streets with green belt planning. Strict building and architectural guidelines were to protect and enforce the unique style.

With the army as the one neighbour and the rural areas in the grip of the conservative politics in the Old South Africa, the Jacobsbaai plan was heavily fought. It was the days of the Saldanha “Tuisland Harbour.” With tenacity the approval a small town came.

A combined development between Kiron and Forrellendam kicked off in 1992 by servicing 75 stands on Kiron land and 140 stands on Forellendam land. Later small holdings where marketed under them name Seebriespark (Sea Breez Park).

Initially the marketing effort concentrated on the local market, convinced that all the regular campers, fishermen, crayfish and abalone fanatics would snatch up the spoils. Devastatingly the reality was proven the opposite. The locals could not identify with the historical architecture and thought it lacked ‘chrome and ceramic.’ Thatch, rocks, wood and roughly plastered white walls was a sign of poverty to them.

December 1993 Deon Meyer brought Dawid van Wyk to Jacobsbaai Dawid believed in the West Coast Pioneer Village and immediately moved to Jacobsbaai with his wife, Marissa and two of his youngest children, Dewan and Liné. They set up a show house in Mauritzbay, one of the five bays that Jacobsbaai comprises of.

The market was apprehensive of the momentous and trying 1994 election and times where hard, however they focused on a new marketing strategy. At the end of 1994 the front section was virtually sold out. Correctly marketed, the style of architecture, together with the serenity of the West Coast and the other bonuses of this piece of heavenly topography, turned into one of the greatest property successes of the West Coast.

With half of its land now sold out, Kiron started to plan the next phase. A pre 1994 rezoning compelled a camping orientated development with a huge caravan park, day camping area and boat launching facility, all put into an unconvincing layout. A new battle started and only early 2000 a compromise was reached.

In 1996 Dawid & Marissa van Wyk bought the Forrellendam company together with Hennie Smit from the Tredoux family. In 1997 Dawid created a successful marketing concept and sold 132 back stands (22 package deals) paying the remainder of the town. Dawie, the older son in the family, returned from his studies at Stellenbosch to help set up a management system for Jacobsbaai.

In 1998 economic downfall in Asia forced SA to raise interest rates to 25.5%, bringing the property market to a halt. Many developments could not survive the economic environment and was forced into bankcruptcy. Against all odds Shelly Point and Jacobsbaai survived at the West Coast.

2003 Mauritzbay was purchased by Dawid van Wyk together with Mike Smit from Gert Vermaak. The new company was known as Spring Romance. In October 2003, Mauritzbay was launched. This quaint little bay was so popular that 22 front stands where sold in the first week.

In 2006 Dawid and Marissa went their separate ways. Marissa to this day still runs a successful estate agency know as Jacobsbaai Kontrei Eiendomme and is part of Jacobsbaai Developers.

In 2009 the old erf 86 of 9ha is sub-divided into 51 stands. It is now know as the beautiful nature estate Tooth Rock where you can buy plots directly from the developers. You can also get finance from them at a prime rate and do not need a bank. Contact Marissa for all your property inquiries.