Condé Nast House & Garden – September 2019

F

inding the perfect home can often

be what, at first, appears to be

an impossible attempt to make

two ends meet in a single space

• secluded but cosmopolitan,
  modern but romantic. Yet, here in
  cape Town’s tucked-away suburb of
  Tamboerskloof, with its tree-lined
  cobbled streets dotted with cape
  vernacular heritage homes, the old
  and the new have come to coexist
  in quiet harmony.

homeownerandproperty

developerBrucePeachofMason

developmentswaslookingfor

ahomethatveeredawayfromthe

modernandsoulless.‘hewanted

toliveinanurbanenvironmentbut

inaspacewithasenseofheritage,’

saysJohannesburg-basedfashion

designer-turned-interior-decorator

LindieFerreira,whowastasked

withmakingthehomeowner’s

visionareality.‘heloveshistory

andauthenticity,havinglivedin

Londonformanyyears,soheopted

for this smaller home that offered

quality over quantity.’

It should come as little surprise

though, given the home’s status,

that an update was in order. over

many years – and owners – the

home had gradually lost its lustre,

becoming not only quite ordinary

but losing touch with its unique

architectural history. Floorboards

had been painted black, ceilings

lowered and fireplaces left in

disrepair. ‘as you’d expect from

someone in his industry, Bruce

could see the potential immediately.

he could see the house had solid

bones,’ says Lindie, ‘and he wanted

to uncover and amplify that, rather

than lose it altogether.’ This would

require a nuanced strategy that

was equal parts renovation and

restoration.The

originaloregonpine

floorboardswere

sandeddownto

revealtheirnatural

grain;theceiling

planksremovedto

revealtheimperfect,

hand-hewnbeams

abovethem;and

theroomentrances

werewidened,

immediatelycreating

voluminous,open-planspaces.

‘Thehousedidn’tchangeor

becomemodern,butbecame

apieceoflivinghistory,’says

Lindie.‘Likeahideawayorenclave,

arefugethatcouldhavebeen

anywhereintheworld.’

notonlydidthisre-establish

theflowofthehouse,italsoclearly

setthemandateforwhatwas

requiredoftheinteriors:afeeling

ofcoolserenity,ofmodernelegance

andanalmostethereallightness

underpinnedbyareverenceforthe

site. ‘You can’t put cheesy stuff into

a house like this,’ she says. ‘I think

the house would just spit it out.’ so,

in short, not your average cream-

and-beige setup but something

that resonated with history. ‘What

I love about decorating, and what

I want to experience in an interior,

is a sense of tension that is both

quiet and dramatic,’ explains

Lindie of her creative process. ‘It

can’t be easy or prescriptive – that

would be boring.’ her tonic to this

‘nouveau classic’ style would be an

eclectic yet monastic approach to

both furniture pieces and finishes

that would yield uncluttered yet

richly layered living spaces. ‘I’m

mad about layering; that’s the

critical thing in decorating,’ she

says. ‘sometimes homeowners

wanteverythingmaxedout,they

wanttogofullimpact,butIbelieve

thatyouneedtoaddlayers,many

thatyoudon’tsee,tocreatethe

experienceofdepth.’

drawingonherformercareeras

afashiondesigner,thissentiment

couldn’tbeclearerthaninLindie’s

useoffabric.Take,forexample,the

varietyofcurtainsthatrespondto

eachroom’sneeds.Intheformal

livingareakilogramsofweighted

linenintroduceastatelysenseof

importance;whereasinthemore

casualTVroom,they’relightand

airy,offeringjustasuggestionof

aviewtotheoutsidearea;andin

theupstairsbedrooms,theycreate

acocooningsoftness.similarly,

thereisarawnaturalnesstothe

upholsterythatinfusestheinteriors

withafeelingoflightandair.When

itcametofurniturepieces,Lindie

optedformismatchedchairsand

tables,cleverlycreatingsynergy

betweencapeantiques,touchesof

Quaker-stylesimplicityandbold

‘what I want to

experIence In an InterIor

Is a sense oF tensIon

that Is both quIet

and dramatIc ’ lindie Ferreira

september 2019 houseandgarden.co.za 65