Barrydale's House of Books is one of the most loved independent bookshops on Route 62
There are bookshops, and then there are bookshops you remember.House of Books on Van Riebeeck Street is the second kind. Curated by Anton de Villiers Fourie, set inside a heritage home halfway down Barrydale's main street, it has quietly become one of the most-talked-about independent bookshops on the R62. Visitors driving between Cape Town and Oudtshoorn plan their stops around it. South African readers travel for it. International travellers leave reviews about it long after they've gone home.
For a Klein Karoo village of around 4 000 people, that is quite something.
A garden, an atrium, and rooms full of books
The first thing that catches you about House of Books is that it is not a shop in the traditional sense. You walk in through a garden and into the atrium of a heritage home. From there, every room of the house is a room of books.
Turn left into the front room. Books. Walk down the passageway. Books. Open a door. Books. Every nook of the house has been given over to the collection. Open floor space is covered with bookshelves. Every shelf is filled.
The collection is mostly South African and substantial. Fiction. Art and politics. Religion and philosophy. Sci-fi. Children's books. Sailing and mountaineering. Cooking. A meaningful Afrikaans section. And at the end of the passageway, a dedicated Africana room, which is where most serious browsers eventually find themselves.
There is a mix of new and pre-loved titles. The books are not piled in plastic crates the way some second-hand shops do it. They are shelved, sorted thematically by room and alphabetically within. If you ask Anton where to find something, he will know.
Beyond the books, you will also find a selection of CDs and DVDs scattered through the rooms, and a quiet collection of photographs by Anton himself, who is an accomplished street photographer in his own right.
About Anton de Villiers Fourie
Anton has run House of Books for years. He is the kind of bookseller you only find in independent shops — knowledgeable, opinionated, generous, and genuinely interested in what you came in for. Spend ten minutes with him and you will leave with a recommendation, a story about a local author or one of Barrydale's quieter characters, and the feeling that you have just made a friend.
He is part of Barrydale's wider creative life too. His own street photography hangs alongside the books. He has supported Barrydale's analog photography festival, an event that has helped position the town as a small but serious destination in the South African photography world.
This is what makes House of Books different from a chain bookshop running pre-loaded inventory. Every book on the shelves was chosen by Anton himself, which means the selection is personal, varied, and deeply readable.
What you can expect to find
Visitors come in looking for one thing and leave with something else they did not know they wanted. That is the nature of a good independent bookshop, and it is what House of Books does best.
Out-of-print South African classics that bigger shops no longer stock. Photography monographs you cannot easily pick up in Cape Town. Children's picture books with proper illustrations. Contemporary fiction with a handwritten staff recommendation slipped between the pages. Obscure non-fiction that real readers love finding. Cookbooks, walking guides, gardening manuals, biographies, poetry collections, theatre and film, military history, religion, philosophy, and the kind of Africana that quietly disappears off the shelves of more famous bookshops.
The pricing is widely considered fair, and many visitors comment that books here cost less than they would at equivalent shops in Cape Town.
How to plan your visit
Allow more time than you think you will need. A "quick browse" rarely stays quick.
Bring a tote bag. You will leave with more than you intended.
Phoning ahead before making a special trip is a sensible idea, especially if you're driving any distance, as Anton sometimes travels for collections and photography work.
If you are making a day of it in Barrydale, House of Books pairs naturally with coffee and a colonial-style croissant at the Karoo Art Hotel just up the street, lunch at the Blue Cow on Tradouwshoek Farm, and a tasting at the Joseph Barry Distillery later in the afternoon. If your visit falls on a Saturday, the Môreson Market opens at 10am and is a natural pairing.
Buyers considering a move to a small town often ask the same thing: what is daily life actually like here?
A bookshop like House of Books gives you part of the answer. Towns that sustain a substantial independent bookshop, run with this much care, by an owner this committed to the craft, are towns with a particular kind of cultural depth. Barrydale has that depth, and House of Books is one of the most visible signs of it.
It tells you that this is a town where slowness is valued. Where people read. Where independent businesses survive because the community supports them. Where the creative life of the village is real, not staged for tourists.
For someone weighing up Barrydale against other Western Cape semigration options, that quiet evidence matters. It is the kind of detail that suggests the town will hold its character even as more people discover it.
Frequently asked questions
Where is House of Books in Barrydale? House of Books is at 37 Van Riebeeck Street, Barrydale, halfway down the main street, near OK Foods and the ABSA branch.
What can I expect to find on the shelves? A wide-ranging collection of mostly South African books, both new and pre-loved, organised thematically by room and alphabetically within. The Africana section at the end of the passageway is particularly strong. CDs, DVDs and Anton's own photographs are also part of the experience.
Are the books new or second-hand? A mix of both. All carefully selected, all in good condition.
Should I phone ahead before visiting? Yes, particularly if you're travelling from a distance to experience our Karoo Escapes. Anton works alone and is occasionally out for collections or photography work.
Is it worth visiting if I'm only passing through Barrydale? Yes, but allow at least an hour. Many visitors plan to "pop in" and end up staying considerably longer.
Looking at property in Barrydale? Contact Ruth Goodman, Dormehl Phalane Property Group, on 074 142 2861 or [email protected]. Ruth holds the CEO Recognition Award for professionalism, ethics and honesty as voted by clients.