THIS SPREAD, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
Japanese maple was also used by Guedes in the window frames,
cabinets and the base of this couch designed by the architect;
a giant Karel Nel artwork hangs in the bedroom; rough-rendered
plaster adds texture to the home’s surfaces; Audrey’s passion for
gardening is apparent in the building’s verdant outdoor areas.
Guedes insisted should be surrounded by black Mackintosh
Hill House chairs by Scottish architect and designer Charles
Rennie Mackintosh. Even the kitchen and bathroom cabinets
were designed and built by Guedes specifically for the house.
Among all the architectural details and furnishings lies the
family’s historic collection of South African contemporary art,
with important works by Cecil Skotnes, William Kentridge,
Jackson Hlungwani and Karel Nel bringing colour to the
interiors. Beadwork, basketry and carvings found during travels
around Africa share space with antique oriental rugs, tapestries
and pillows that cover the walls, couches and floors en masse,
layering their textures, geographies and histories into the home.
From beyond the windows and walls comes the glisten of
tropical palm, cycad and silver birch leaves, which soften the
feel of the stippled concrete building despite the rigorous order
imposed by the Modernist architecture. All the planting is the
work of Audrey’s passion for gardening. ‘I wanted a garden that
looked like a forest, but I didn’t want that to only happen in
hundreds of years, so I specifically chose plants that would grow
quickly,’ she says. ‘Now it is completely overgrown, much sooner
than I thought, and I am almost too old to walk into it often.
But seeing the garden, and this house, still brings us a lot of joy.’ O