Neighbourhood CT - 19 January 2020 by Your Neighbourhood

Neighbourhood 19 JANUARY 2020

PROPERTY & LIFESTYLE

Where families reign Rondebosch in the leafy Southern Suburbs of Cape Town is a brilliant mix of old-world charm, modern-day amenities, and excellent schools, page 10 2

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COLOUR IN 2020

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NEWS & LIFESTYLE

19 JANUARY 2020

Editor’s exclusive CARLA REDELINGHUYS

In your hood:

Neighbourhood

Countrywide

Tokara | 021 808 5900 | tokara.com Trizanne Signature Wines | 082 383 6664 | trizanne.co.za Diemersdal | 021 976 3361 | diemersdal.co.za

Hot summer, cool sauvvies

Nothing says summer like a glass of crisp sauvignon blanc! WORDS: RICHARD HOLMES

IMAGES: SUPPLIED & SHUTTERSTOCK

hether you’re toasting the sunset or pairing it with fish on the braai, these coolclimate sauvvies will leave you smiling…

Tokara Reserve Collection Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2018

Twenty twenty in 2020

e find ourselves at the start of an exciting new year, and according to Samuel Seeff, chairman, Seeff Property Group the property buyer’s market is the best in years.

So, here’s 20 reasons to make 2020 the year to buy property

1. Most areas are still overstocked, so there’s plenty of excellent buys in the market. 2. It’s a buyer’s market so you can negotiate strongly. 3. Sellers who have been holding out will now be ready to sell. 4. Interest rates are at the lowest level in many years. 5. The banks are keen to lend, and first-time buyers can find bonds of up to 105%. 6. Price growth has barely kept track with inflation and will remain flat into next year which means you can buy at last year’s prices. 7. You can finance your property purchase. 8. You can buy property with friends or as part of a syndicate. 9. Unlike other asset classes, property generally retains its capital value. 10. Property generally appreciates in value, but know the rules about buying well. 11. Property isn’t a volatile investment and you’re unlikely to wake up in the morning and find your property

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value has suddenly plummeted as can happen with shares. 12. It’s forced savings and wealth creation. 13. If you hold onto it for long enough, you can achieve excellent capital growth or profit when you sell it. 14. Property creates security for your future and a foundation to build a life and raise a family. 15. It creates stability and you don’t have to move unless you sell your property. 16. You can start small and grow with your needs. 17. You can renovate and customise your home to suit your lifestyle and needs. 18. You can earn an income from your property by house sharing or renting out a room, flat or cottage. 19. You can rent out your entire property yet retain the asset and benefit from the potential capital growth. 20. It’s the best nest egg, and if you’ve invested well, you can end up with a good retirement.

This is one of just three sauvignon blancs to claim a coveted five-star rating in the 2020 Platter’s Guide. Though Tokara’s cellar, and many of its vineyards, overlooks the Stellenbosch winelands, the grapes for this wine were drawn from its vineyards on Highlands farm in the cooler Elgin valley. “The Reserve Collection Sauvignon Blanc from Elgin is a beacon of all things cool-climate, with fresh aromas of gooseberry, lime peel and blackcurrant leaf,” says winemaker Stuart Botha. It’s drinking nicely right now, but if you can bear to hold onto a few bottles the zippy acidity ensures it’ll keep improving over the next decade.

Trizanne Signature Wines Sondagskloof Blanc Fumé 2018

Hermanus for her winning wine. “I decided to make the sauvignon blanc like a red wine,” says Trizanne, who fermented the juice on the grape skins, before ageing the wine in oak barrels. Blanc fumé is a term coined by iconic American winemaker Robert Mondavi in the 1960s to indicate that the wine has been aged in barrels, not steel tanks as are more commonly used. “A new wine from a new region for the talented Trizanne Barnard, this is a wonderful sauvignon blanc,” enthused wine critic Tim Atkin in his latest report on South African wines. “Right up there with the most complex examples of the variety in South Africa.”

Here Diemersdal winemaker Thys Louw teamed up with Ben Glover from Glover Family Vineyards to craft this wine packed full of Marlborough’s characteristic tropical notes of granadilla, gooseberry and – yes, of course – kiwi fruit. “The Dillons Point area of Marlborough is renowned for producing stunning pungent wines of power, finesse and vibrancy,” says Thys. “If you taste a wine made in that part of the world, you know you’re tasting Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. And for Diemersdal it’s a great honour to be able to present this to South African wine drinkers who have already made sauvignon blanc the country’s most popular varietal wine.”

Diemersdal Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019

Acclaimed Durbanville producer Diemersdal looked even further afield for their latest sauvignon blanc release, travelling all the way to the famed vineyards of Dillons Point on New Zealand’s South Island.

Another five-star winner in the new Platter’s was Trizanne Barnard, who turned to cool-climate vineyards in the Sondagskloof region beyond

Here’s to a prosperous 2020. I have some big goals that I hope to attain this year. I hope you slay yours.

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19 JANUARY 2020

Neighbourhood

In your hood:

Gardens

Aubergine | 021 465 0000 | aubergine.co.za

Let’s do lunch

An old favourite, Aubergine is all about good food, good wine and relaxed conversation WORDS: KIT HEATHCOCK IMAGES: PATRICK HEATHCOCK

ummer weekday lunch at Aubergine is one of those Cape Town best-kept secrets that regulars hope will stay under the radar. The iconic fine-dining destination welcomes guests in relaxed mode at lunchtime, a sunny enclosed courtyard, à la carte menu changing weekly, and renowned chef-patron Harald Bresselschmidt keeping things simple and classic. “Staying close to the seasons, we can be differently creative for lunch. It’s often a playground for us to try out new dishes for the dinner menu,” he says. The short menu made choosing starters

easy for us: fresh wild porcini and blusher mushrooms – an unexpected treat courtesy of the unseasonal November rains – simply tossed with garlic, tarragon and raspberry vinegar, they exploded with flavour. And summery hot-smoked hake served Mediterranean-style with asparagus, olive tapenade and heirloom tomatoes. One of the joys was discovering the varied Aubergine label wines, available by the glass, which sommelier Ralph Reynolds selected as impromptu pairings. A superb Chenin Blanc 2007 from Teddy Hall with the mushrooms, and a beautifully fresh Swartland Chenin Blanc 2018 from Wildehurst with the fish. Created and bottled exclusively for Aubergine they’re collaborations between chef Harald and the producers, relationships that he has developed along with his extensive cellars over 24 years. It’s all about creating wines to go with food, Ralph tells us. And vice versa. “Sometimes Chef will tell you that he’s not making food for you, he’s making it for the wine that you’re having.” More intriguing wines with stories were the seasoning to our main courses. With a gorgeously rich springbok on pumpkin, berries, kale and bitter chocolate jus, Ralph suggested an intense Signal Hill Syrah 2007 grown on a tiny pocket of vines in Oranjezicht. Then the unusual Lost Observatory Carignan/Syrah 2005 made by Tom Lubbe in the Swartland and forgotten for years at the back of a cellar – sipped together with aromatic masala chicken, aubergine curry and spinach bhajia, the spices practically danced on the palate. We finished with a lovely light crème brûlée, the sweetness balanced by a sea buckthorn sorbet, and a chocolate and raspberry delight paired with Chenin Blanc Noble Late Harvest 2008 again from Teddy Hall. Whether you indulge in three courses and wine pairings, or pop in for a quick one-course lunch and a glass of wine, there’s an equally warm welcome. Lunch served Wednesdays to Fridays throughout summer.

NEWS & LIFESTYLE

PROPERTY NEWS

19 JANUARY 2020

Neighbourhood

Colour me surprised This year it seems that in terms of colour, nature rules. Not that the tones identified by different colourists are the same, but they have a green thread running through them all. WORDS: ANNE SCHAUFFER

IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK

here’s little doubt that colours and tones have an effect not only on a room, but certainly on our moods. Currently, and perhaps particularly in South Africa, there’s a yearning for a sense of calm amid the chaos and noise of technology and loud opinions. Nature and natural materials have the power to calm us, while drawing us back to our roots and restoring that lost connectivity to things that really matter.

Plascon chooses Mulberry Leaf

Plascon’s colour for 2020 is Mulberry Leaf (G3-D1-2), a green by anybody’s standard. “Mulberry Leaf helps us drown out the noise by creating a cocoon of green goodness in our homes. With this colour, staying home will feel like a walk in the park,” says Katlego Kondlo, Plascon’s head of decorative marketing. Bottom line, Plascon considers wellness and sustainable living to be more achievable with this balanced, grounded and organic vegetable green tone. This year is not simply a new year, but a new decade. The opportunity for a new dawn. In an increasingly hectic and digital world, there’s a desire for meaning and kindness,

a hopefulness, a sense of renewal – Mulberry Leaf offers that green shoot. If you’re looking for a statement wall – rather than all four walls of Mulberry Leaf – Plascon has suggestions for great combinations. Consider contrasting it with crisp, clean white – the room becomes a cool oasis. Katlego also suggests, “complementing the feature wall with a warm neutral such as Cream of Mushroom (32) and golden accents with Gold Cadillac (Y3-B1-1)”. Rose gold is going to be around for a few more seasons yet, so use it with Mulberry Leaf for glamour amid a balanced and earthy space. Katlego adds, “Soft cool greys like Ripple 74 and copper-like pink Warm Welcome (O4-C1-4) are great as background colours with Mulberry Leaf, too.” If you want green appeal to start on your doorstep, painting your front door in Mulberry Leaf apparently speaks volumes about your values, aspirations and yearning for a natural connection.

Dulux chooses Tranquil Dawn

Dulux colour specialists chose Tranquil Dawn as their colour for 2020. It’s described as a colour inspired by the fleeting beauty of the morning

sky, and the colour sits somewhere between green, blue and grey. It’s a versatile colour, and can pick up or tone down a host of others. Dulux compiled some different looks, all around Tranquil Dawn (45GY 55/052), each one for a different space, different mood. For a lounge, they used it with a sandy tone to create a nurturing space, focussing on wellbeing. They teamed it up with Bellcourt Castle (45YY 53/151) and Mushroom Morning (65YY 71/071). Another living room scenario saw Tranquil Dawn on the walls as a thin vertical stripe, essentially a pale contrast shade separating Military Green 50GY 13/136 and Cheeky Grey (78GG 19/078). A bedroom should be the ideal antidote to today’s lifestyle, so Dulux painted Tranquil Dawn walls, which appears muted and minimalist when combined with a back wall and ceiling painted in similar tones which act as a frame and canopy to the bed – Grey Gimmick (22YR 17/023) and Black Mica (30BB 05/022).

Wellness in colour

Whether it’s paint, fabrics or wallpapers, nature has inspired the choices for the next decade. Not necessarily all natural, or all green, but calming, sometimes energising traces of it, to ground us.

SCHOOL

19 JANUARY 2020

Neighbourhood

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PROPERTY NEWS

19 JANUARY 2020

Neighbourhood

Suburb focus

Suburban bliss

Families, schools and green spaces are what Rondebosch is known for

WORDS: KIT HEATHCOCK *Map not to scale

IMAGES: NATASHA LASSEN & GOOGLE MAPS

ts roots as one of Cape Town’s oldest residential suburbs show in the oak-lined streets, big old houses on generous plot sizes and the long-established, much-indemand schools of which Rondebosch has more than its fair share. The railway line that established it as Cape Town’s first commuter belt back in Victorian times, divides the suburb into two distinct halves. Above the line is UCT country – the university campus in its prominent position on the slopes of the mountain dominates all views of the suburb, and the constant demand for student accommodation is met by apartment buildings – some art deco – and purpose-built private residences old and new, clustered each side of the lower campus. Main Road buzzes with shops and food outlets catering to the student population. Along Main Road, the Liesbeek River and the railway line is also the business hub of the suburb with a growing number of business parks and office buildings. Below that line Rondebosch relaxes, exhales and expands into quiet tree-lined residential streets, the wide common, parks and a liberal

INSIDER TRADING Kim Stoffberg opened Caffé Sienna eight years ago, a busy little coffee shop serving breakfasts, lunches, coffee and cakes, tucked in a quiet street behind Rondebosch station. “My mom was working here and when the shop next to her hairdressers opened up it was the obvious choice.” She’d studied at Silwood School of Cookery and the suburb already felt like home. Her customers are mostly from the nearby schools and the surrounding business parks. “We do a lot of work with the businesses near us, we’re convenient for them and it saves them crossing the railway line to the Main Road. It’s a wonderful little hub to be in. Everyone is friendly, and there’s a lovely sense of community in the shops around us.”

seasoning of some of Cape Town’s best-known schools, which make the suburb a magnet to families with school-age children. “Rondebosch has a really great vibe – the students give it a special kind of energy, everyone is friendly, and there’s a lovely sense of family life and community,” says Kim Stoffberg of Caffe Sienna.

Green spaces The Google Maps satellite view of Rondebosch is a patchwork of green. From tree-filled Groote Schuur Estate, site of the official presidential and various ministerial residences, to the sports fields of the numerous schools, Rondebosch Park, Keurboom Park and the wide expanse of Rondebosch Common, it’s a suburb where you have space to breathe and residents make the most of it. “Saturday parkrun around the Rondebosch Common is really popular,” says Natalie Bulwer, interior designer, who has lived here for six years. “Keurboom Park is my other favourite place to walk the dogs with its breathtaking mountain views. When the kids were at junior school we spent every Sunday afternoon playing social hockey and soccer on the WPCC astro and fields. It really is a place where the community connects with families.”

Weekends Weekends that aren’t already filled with children’s sports and social engagements have plenty of choices. The Baxter Theatre with its three performing arts venues, stages exciting programmes of local and international drama, music, comedy and dance. The Newlands Stadiums are within walking distance for those big international matches, and Kirstenbosch just down the road for picnics, summer concerts and outdoor movies. Natalie also recommends, “A visit to Squirrel Park where Potters market, Art in the Park and numerous other markets take place on a small local scale. A lovely walk around the neighbourhood or sitting on our verandah and watching the sun go down behind the mountain. It’s a quiet neighbourhood on the whole.”

Neighbourhood

19 JANUARY 2020

PROPERTY NEWS

EATERIES • Michaels Kitchen & Bar: a local institution from brunch to family dinners and live music evenings • Haru: authentic Korean and Japanese; ramen and sushi • Caffé Sienna: breakfasts, cake and coffee, and lunches • Govinda’s Natural Food Café: vegan and vegetarian food in a simple cafe setting • Hussar Grill: traditional steakhouse and grillroom since 1964 • Al’s Place: casual local haunt for steaks, burgers and pizza

SCHOOLS

I love the beautiful old double storey homes and views of the mountain, the oak-lined avenues, the quick and easy access to the city, airport, winelands and beaches. I work all over Cape Town and many of my suppliers are in Woodstock, so it’s the best area to live in for easy access. NATALIE BULWER, INTERIOR DESIGNER

Families tend to move here when their kids are young, often specifically to be in the unofficial feeder area for some of the top schools in the Cape. Schools include: • Rondebosch Boys’ High School • Rondebosch Boys’ Prep School • Westerford High School • Bishops Diocesan College • St Joseph’s Marist College • Rustenburg Girls’ High School • Rustenberg Girls’ Junior School • Oakhurst Girls’ Primary • Golden Grove Primary • Micklefield School • Forres Preparatory School

SHOPS • Rondebosch Main Road: Pick n Pay, Woolworths, bookshop and more • Riverside Mall: Checkers, banks, services and stores • Silwood Centre: small neighbourhood centre with KwikSpar • Belvedere Square: Woolworths Food and upmarket neighbourhood stores • Palmyra Junction in Claremont: flagship Woolworths Food, Frankie Fenner Meat and more • Cavendish Square in Claremont for full-on retail therapy