A FINE ROMANCE décor & design inspo

A Fine Romance

This home blends an enduring architectural style with inspired interiors that combine sophistication and everyday ease, making it ideal for a young family.

TEXT ROBYN ALEXANDER STYLING SVEN ALBERDING PHOTOGRAPHS WARREN HEATH

My projects tell a story,” says homeowner and interior designer Simone Hirsch. She’s sitting on the spacious veranda of the house she recently renovated in Bishopscourt, Cape Town, for her family, which she shares with her husband Richard and their two sons, Cole and Connor.

The story of the Hirschs’ home has unfolded over several years following the young family’s move to Cape Town and their renovation of this house, which they had lived in for two years before starting the remodelling project.

Like many other homes in the verdant suburb, this one has a name rather than just a street number: it’s called Summer

Planes, in tribute to the numerous plane trees that grace the property’s large garden. At one time, the house was owned by a member of the Labia family – the original Cape-based members who built the stately home that is now the Labia Museum in nearby Muizenberg – who left behind the beautiful old marble fountain that still graces the garden today. And renowned Cape

Town landscaper Franchesca Watson, who also lived here for a time, laid out the garden’s design.

Stories abound at Summer Planes, then, and the most recent chapter of its long history is a very happy one. Together with

Johannesburg-based architect Peter Cohen, Simone has brought the existing house – built in Cape classical style – into the 21st century in a way that emphasises all the best aspects of this genre of architecture.

With simple geometric lines and pared-back yet substantial forms, the house now melds timeless architectural elegance and sophisticated interiors that reflect Simone’s eye for restrained colour, layers of natural textures, and just the right touches of unique detail. Simone has been an interior designer for almost five years now, o ering a full turnkey service to her clients, and has to date worked on a couple of projects with Peter. He has a “genuinely special sense of space and proportion”, she says, adding, “I feel inspired every time I work with him.”

Asked to describe her style, she suggests “simple sophistication” as the best way to sum up her use of clean, contemporary furnishings as well as natural materials and textures – think stone, marble, wood and sandstone – in her interiors.

Overall, every design element employed in the house has been chosen with care to suit the needs and wants of all its occupants, and it quite obviously functions perfectly as a family home. No wonder, then, that Simone sums up Summer Planes by smilingly referring to the house as “our happy space”.

www.simonekatherineinteriors.com

Simone Katherine Interiors and architect Peter Cohen designed the kitchen; Malco created the bespoke joinery. Storage and refrigerators are concealed behind integrated cupboard fronts, and the kitchen island is made from Caesarstone.

The indoor lounge is situated adjacent to a beautifully designed bar area in the newly added wing of the house. The pale grey couch is by Simone Katherine Interiors and is upholstered in Belgian linen from Warwick Fabrics. The patterned scatter cushions are covered in a selection of linen fabrics from Mavromac.

The main dining room has wooden flooring by Oggie Hardwood Flooring and French doors that open onto the veranda and garden. Simone Katherine Interiors designed the dining table and chairs, and the hanging glass light fittings are from Glo Lighting. The woodburning stove is from Italcotto.

The main bedroom is a beautifully designed boudoir with a glass box that feels as if it is suspended in the surrounding plane trees. Simone Katherine Interiors designed the four-poster bed, the bedside pedestals and the bench at the foot of the bed, upholstered in Miroir by Pierre Frey – and the bolster on the bed is made up in the same fabric. The curtains that can be drawn around the bed itself are by Ralph Lauren Home.

The main bedroom’s en suite bathroom and dressing room feature built-in cupboards and a vanity area designed by Simone Katherine Interiors with fluted oak used for the cupboard fronts. The bamboo chair was found in a local vintage store. The bath is from Victorian Bathrooms.

Cole’s bedroom has a sporty, retro ‘cars’ theme and has twin beds with headboards designed by Simone Katherine Interiors and upholstered in Slubby Linen in Neptune from Warwick Fabrics. The wall light is by Ralph Lauren Home, and the retro car grilles on the wall were sourced from Hunter Gatherer, as were the metal lockers used as bedside tables.

A nautical theme pulls the decor in Connor’s bedroom together: the twin beds have headboards designed by Simone Katherine Interiors and upholstered in a fabric from Ian Mankin. The desk is from Frag, and the built-in cupboards were made and installed by Malco.

The outdoor dining area is situated on a covered veranda off the kitchen. Simone Katherine Interiors designed the metal and iroko wood dining table with cherry wood butterfly detail, and the chairs are by Talenti.

Below: Featuring family dog Benjamin. This outdoor lounge area is situated in the new wing of the house, adjacent to the indoor living area and bar. Simone Katherine Interiors and architect Peter Cohen designed the fireplace. The built-in shelving backed with glass windows is also a bespoke design by Simone Katherine Interiors and was manufactured by The Iron Banister and Malco. The flooring is sandstone, hand-cut to resemble traditional ‘klompie’ bricks, a much-used element in traditional Cape design. Simone Katherine Interiors designed the square wooden coffee table and the whitewashed oak couch with cushions in an outdoor navy fabric, piped in white, and the cream slipcovered armchairs are from Arteriors, with slipcovers made up in fabric from Mavromac. The wooden chairs with slatted backs are from Tribù.

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