Groot Phesantekraal was first granted in 1698 to Olof Bergh, a colourful character who, despite spectacular brushes with the law which resulted in him being imprisoned on Robben Island for some years, managed to regain his stature and accumulate great wealth, including numerous farms.

The farm was passed from the Bergh family to the Louw family who lived there for several generations before it was eventually acquired by Arend Brink in 1897. While the Brink family originated in the Cape, Arend was a transport rider between the diamond and gold fields up north before settling on this farm on the outskirts of Durbanville.