A Dreamy Cottage Built on an Exotic Love Story ― Mount Kenya Safari Club

Text by MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Chen Guanxin, compiled and reported; Source / Moleskine Editorial Department

The Mount Kenya Safari Club, located on the slopes of Mount Kenya, has been voted multiple times by readers of the American travel magazine "Travel & Leisure" as one of the World's Top 100 Hotels and among the Top 5 Hotels in Africa. Established in 1959, this club once hosted guests who were nothing short of the rich and famous. Among its financial backers was American actor William Holden, who starred in numerous films with Audrey Hepburn. The list of founding members includes British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Dutch Prince Bernhard, former U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, and American actor Bob Hope.

The Mount Kenya Safari Club exudes the charm of the British hunting era. Next to the reception desk are several chairs draped with leopard skins, and the hallways display rows of animal head trophies. Oversized ivory decorations are frequently spotted, and the dress code for dinner creates a rare upper-class atmosphere in Kenya come nightfall—a scene locals describe as very “Fancy.”

A love story behind the club remains widely talked about to this day. Rhoda Lewinsohn, a 50-year-old woman from New York, originally had a happy family. While vacationing in Kenya with some friends, she hired a young French pilot and hunter, Gabriel Prudhomme, to lead a hunting trip. Not only did Rhoda shoot an elephant, but she also captured the heart of the young Frenchman. The two quickly fell in love. Rhoda divorced and renounced her U.S. citizenship, married Gabriel in Paris, and then settled in Kenya. They subsequently searched for the perfect location to build their dream cottage, eventually finding a spot near the slopes of Mount Kenya in Nayuki.

The land was originally privately owned by Mrs. Wheeler from San Francisco, but after her fiancé suddenly passed away overseas, the heartbroken Wheeler said she would sell the land to the couple only if Gabriel would fly her fiancé’s body to France for cremation and bring the ashes back to Kenya to scatter them on Mount Kenya. Without hesitation, Gabriel promptly acquired ownership of the land and built the house within a year. Rhoda insisted on having a large home that could accommodate all guests during rainy days, and he named the place “Mawingo,” which means “cloud” in Swahili.

In the year before World War II broke out, Rhoda returned to New York and Gabriel soon followed. Unfortunately, they decided to end their marriage, and Gabriel gained ownership of the house. Later, during a hunting trip, American actor William Holden and Swiss banker Carl Hirschmann were captivated by the place and bought the house, renaming it the Mount Kenya Safari Club.

[Travel Information]

Phone: +254-020-216-940

Address: PO Box 35, Nanyuki, Kenya