|
ABOVE: Angular architectural lines and glamorous interiors give this home an art gallery-like feeling. Situated on the slopes of Fresnaye, it appears to float within its environment.
Modelling au naturel
Appearing to strut from the mountains to the ocean, this luxurious Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen-designed home welcomes its surrounding landscape while ensuring the interiors create an added glamorous pout
Words Tracy Lynn Chemaly Photographs Wieland Gleich and Pete Maltbie
When Lion’s Head and Signal Hill peak through your windows and the Atlantic Ocean fronts your view, you would obviously want your house to maximise this magnificent panorama, turning it into a modelling ramp for nature. That’s exactly what Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects (SAOTA) were thinking when designing this lavish Fresnaye home.
ABOVE: The low-lying furniture from OKHA invites the exterior to enter the home without interruption. The feature wall and hedge in the background provide privacy from neighbours.
The aim of his resourceful design was to turn the entire building site into one great big living space, with not an inch of the property going unused. Architect Stefan Antoni jokes about the result: ‘If you’re lazing in the lounge on a nice sunny afternoon, you can just roll off the couch into the pool with your drink.’ The lap pool frames one side of the house and doubles as an attractive water feature, reflecting the palm trees that line the street.
The dining room also takes full advantage of the natural setting, flowing over into its own courtyard. When the glass doors slide open, a Sunday lunch in the dining room takes on the feel of a picnic in the garden. Interesting feature walls and specially grown hedges offer privacy from neighbours, eliminating the need to enclose the entire site with a fence.
ABOVE LEFT: OKHA places great importance on personalising interiors through interesting objets d’art. The mahogany server acts as an informal showcase for glassware, art and sculpture. The curvy standing lamp silhouetted in black adds drama to the space. RIGHT: The en-suite bathroom is separated from the main bedroom by timber screens that create a sense of mystery.
The beauty continues inside, where decorator Adam Court from OKHA has created interiors that allow a sweep of the eye to take in the furnishings without detracting from the unobstructed exterior views. By using what he calls ‘low-landscape furniture’, he’s managed to create specific areas of activity in the same open environment without cutting different spaces off from each other. ‘It was already an architectural space that flowed, so we had to continue that theme with the interiors,’ he says.
Shifting colour palettes and varied furniture styles allow these separated yet connected interiors their own identities within this inviting home. The formal area is filled with clean, geometric lines and modular forms that mimic the architecture, while the informal lounge establishes its character with softer edges, accentuating the home’s easy-living style.
ABOVE: A floating wooden staircase leads down to the informal lounge. This room opens up completely to the lap pool and pool deck, allowing nature to fill the neutral-coloured space.
Filled with the sunshine that streams over the mountain and hills in the morning, and moves towards the ocean in the late afternoon, the high-ceiling home makes the most of this natural light. Its predominantly white walls add to the airy feel, giving it a fashion show-like impression. With exquisite interiors adorning its floors and nature decorating its windows, this is definitely a ramp worthy of its models.
RIGHT The armchair is framed by the carpet, providing interesting impact to a neutral-coloured piece of furniture. The red chairs of the dining-room table add a colour accent to the living area, ensuring that the house maintains a liveliness about it.
ABOVE: The main bedroom offers 360-degree views of the city. Sitting on the occasional chairs, one can choose between staring at the ocean or trying to spot buck grazing on the mountain. Luxury is exemplified in this room filled with Egyptian cottons and cashmere throws.
Contacts:
Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen
W: www.saota.com
You might also like:
The dream home:
To make your greatest dreams come true, you first have to knuckle down to it and do things the hard way – one brick at a time.
Click for contact details and photographs |
Sustainable Knysna home:
Sustainable living has never looked this good
Click for details |
|
The Rose House:
When this home got its makeover, it was indeed extreme, as the house adopted a colourful new life and the garden became a scented paradise of roses.
Click to read more |
A romantic renovation :
Tinged with romance, this stylish 
 homecoming was well worth the wait.
Click to read more |
|
