Like many couples with a baby on the way, homeowners Victoria and Pete decided it was time to swap their small, inner-city terraced house for a larger home a little further out. But the house they settled on wasn’t your typical suburban dwelling – it was a stand-alone home nestled in the slopes of Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain. The couple were drawn to the genteel location and the huge potential the site offered. For architect Victoria, who was expecting their son Joseph (now 8), it was both an exciting and creative time. “I saw it as an opportunity to flex my architectural skills and challenge the conventional ideas of family living,” she recalls. “I knew it would be far easier to push those boundaries in my own home than with a client.”
And if it was a project they were after, this one fit the bill. When the couple first bought the 1940s house, more than 10 years ago, it needed all the help it could get. The interior was a warren of dark rooms and passages with no connection to the garden or those incredible views. The garden, situated on a lower terrace, was dominated by a large pool that was always in shade. “Although the original home obeyed all the rules in its orientation north towards the sun, it wasn’t a joy to live in,’ Victoria explains.
The first big change was to make the garden level with the house, while ensuring any new additions were in keeping with the home’s heritage-status facade. Victoria’s concept was to create two wings; one would be the original dwelling that faces the street, and the new structure would be built behind it to open onto the garden and make the most of the north-facing sun and vistas.
This story is from the October 2020 edition of Home Beautiful.
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This story is from the October 2020 edition of Home Beautiful.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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BRING TO LIGHT
A DULL AND UNINSPIRING HOME IS REINCARNATED AS AN IDYLLIC SEASIDE ABODE FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR
CALI CLASSIC
TAKING INSPIRATION FROM THIS BUNGALOW'S EXTERIOR, A COUPLE REVIVED THE INTERIOR WITH CALIFORNIA SOUL
SEA CHANGE
A DATED PROPERTY IS TRANSFORMED INTO A FAMILY'S FOREVER HOME WITH A FRESH BLACK AND WHITE PALETTE
Paradise found in LOS CABOS
ON THE POINT OF THE BAJA CALIFORNIA PENINSULA, THE DESERT MEETS THE SEA AT THIS AWE-INSPIRING MEXICAN OASIS
THE gardener's LOG
With only one month until spring is officially here, August is the last chance to give your plants a winter prune and shape your garden for summer
COME RAIN OR SHINE
It took two months of dedicated, daily work to transform an almost bare yard into this contemporary garden
BOLD STROKES
DARE TO EMBRACE THE DETAILS THAT MAKE YOU DIFFERENT FOR A KITCHEN DESIGN THAT FEELS PERSONAL
CREATIVE connections
THE RENOVATION JOURNEY OF THIS BANGALOW HOME TOOK A EUROPEAN-INSPIRED ROUTE BACK IN TIME
SET IN STONE
WITH ITS ALLURING MIX OF MATERIALS AND ERAS, THIS HOME OFFERS A MASTERCLASS IN ENDURING STYLE AND ELEGANCE
Escape time
WELCOME TO THE ULTIMATE COUNTRY RETREAT, A SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS WEEKENDER WHERE THE ONLY CHALLENGE IS BRINGING ONESELF TO LEAVE