NATURAL WONDER Surrounded by lush vineyards and mountain views, this South African new build was designed to

home truths

THE PROPERTY

Detached new build LOCATION Constantia, near Cape Town, South Africa ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner, TV room, study, four bedrooms (two en suite), two bathrooms, guest suite, sauna BUILT 2013

PREVIOUS PROPERTY

‘We lived in a period terrace in south London,’ says Matt.

When Matt and Victoria Bresler fi rst viewed their house in Cape Town’s Constantia Valley, they were so excited, they didn’t think twice about buying it –then promptly demolished it. ‘It was the land, position and the aspect that we were attracted to, not the building itself,’ says Matt. ‘On our fi rst visit, I spent two or three minutes inside the house and about an hour standing on the roof admiring the surroundings.’

After a decade of working abroad, Matt and Victoria had decided to settle and fi nd a place to raise their children Jonty, now 13, Hannah, 11, and Ollie, nine. With a generous garden bordering onto lush vineyards and enjoying stunning views towards Table Mountain, the plot was missing only one thing: a suitable family home. The existing property was an unattractive angular building with an asbestos roof and an internal squash court. It was in a dilapidated state and the grounds were so overgrown that the adjacent vineyard could only be seen from the second storey.

The idea of a house tailor-made for their family was an exciting one for the Breslers and the fi rst part of the build involved bringing in hundreds of tons of earth to raise the ground level to maximise the view. As for the building

SITTING ROOM The furnishings have a mid-century modern feel that fi ts in with the home’s architecture. Dansk sofa, price on request, Mezzanine. For a similar coff ee table, try the Grayson in oak, £299, John Lewis & Partners. The Drum side table would also work well here, £125, Lagoon

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itself, there were plenty of ideas. ‘We wanted to create a contemporary home using natural materials, such as wood, stone and glass as well as cement,’ says Matt. The pair commissioned architect Jan-Heyn Vorster to design a house with an ambience that Matt describes as ‘Stockholm with a hint of Dar es Salaam’.

The two-and-a-half-year project resulted in a bold, beautiful and largely single-storey building with an abundance of solar glass and blond oiled oak that are complemented by sculptural concrete in the walls and ceilings. The profusion of glass has resulted in a huge open-plan living space that is awash with light.

With a construction this imposing, careful thought had to be given to the decor. ‘You can’t separate the interior and the architecture from each other,’ says Jan-Heyn. ‘The building was designed to be neutral with the furnishings supplying the colour.’ Cleverly, Matt and Victoria have installed chairs and sofas that match the colour of the concrete and also complement the Western red cedar cladding.

As well as curvaceous mid-century pieces, treasured items, such as artefacts, masks and etchings collected by Matt during his time backpacking around the world, help to soften the space. Another way the pair personalised their home was by creating a bedroom wing that sits at an angle and hugs the garden, with each room staggered to provide more privacy and better views of the beautiful scenery.

And it is the couple’s love of nature that inspired the naturalistic-styled garden, designed to complement the home’s clean-lined aesthetic and surrounding landscape. ‘We like to think this place is the culmination of a great deal of anticipation, dreaming, planning and research, coming together into a space we love, on a wonderful plot that we were very fortunate to find,’ explains Matt. ‘We just hope we have done the land justice.’

KITCHEN-DINER ‘Our love of clean lines and Scandi style inspired the design of this space,’ says Matt. Love Wood Kitchens makes units like these, price on request. Try the Ercol Originals Plank table, from £1,345, Heal’s. Nguni chairs, price on request, de Le Cuona. Foscarini Rock pendants, £477 each, Connox

MASTER E N SUITE The tub has been placed next to doors that open onto the garden, creating a sense of being outside. Try the Victoria + Albert Ios bath, £2,885, Bathrooms Direct Yorkshire. The Diamond heated towel rail, £89.95, Victorian Plumbing, is similar