A fresh start

By Marianne McDonald, Property coordinator and Project Consultant Monique Rankine, Photography Nic Baleta

After considering various options, this family fell in love with a country estate in Midrand.

The change would require building a new home from scratch. “We were actually lucky to get this particular stand, because it wasn’t available when we were first looking,” explains the home owner. They snapped up the property, which is at the water’s edge and surrounded by greenery on either side, offering wonderful views and privacy.

“We drove around the estate looking at homes that we liked, and chose the architect and builder based on that,” says the home owner. They were presented with various iterations, and finally decided on one that suited the family’s needs and lifestyle best.

The architect felt strongly that the home should take an L shape so all of the rooms would enjoy beautiful views. A design combination of Plantation and French styles produced a unique home that makes the most of large, open indoor spaces, airy rooms and accessible outdoor areas, perfect for the Johannesburg climate.

“If it were left to my wife and me, the interiors would have looked like the Taj Mahal,” jokes the home owner. “Our architect had a vision, so we enlisted the help of his wife on the interiors, and everything came together beautifully – we just left it to her.”

The family sold the majority of their furniture from their previous home, so it was a fresh start made of monochromatic tones, natural wood finishes and white varnished accents.

While the family now enjoys every aspect of their home, from the kitchen to the cinema and the upstairs pyjama lounge, the experience of building was not without its stumbling blocks. “You need to be careful with your service providers – we had one disappear mid-job and have a pool that we are now having to redo completely because of a leak,” explains the home owner. Despite this, the family wouldn’t trade the experience or their home for anything in the world. “Everything is exactly the way we want it,” he says.