a darkly glamorous retreat feathered in

jungle hues that echo its lush surrounds.

It is both serene and wonderfully exotic,

with a shaded turquoise pool you wouldn’t

want to venture far from at the height of

Cape Town’s summer.

The handsome contemporary

structure – for this slender charcoal

column reaching up through the soft

swathes of green is distinctly masculine

• might appear from the outside to be in
  contrast to its forested setting hugging
  the slopes of Table Mountain in the

peaceful suburb of Higgovale but you

only have to step inside to get a sense of

its sympathetic response to the site.

Designed by Cape Town firm Gerd

Weideman Architects, it is a home

that offers both discreet containment

for those who reside in it and an

exhilarating connectedness to the

outdoors. It’s built on three levels with

central areas and private rooms that all

share a continuous outlook to the garden

through ceiling-height windows and

glass doors that recede entirely when

opened up.

Indeed what captivated its London

based owner, Victor Hugo, who grew up in

South Africa, was ‘its proximity to nature,

backing right onto a wild rock garden,

and the cool, airy living spaces with their

spectacular views’. Victor had specifically

sought a property in this part of the city: 

THE IDEA OF NESTING

BECOMES ALL THE MORE APPEALING

WHEN IT’S IN A HOUSE SET QUITE

LITERALLY IN THE TREES –

1015_HL_080_089_House_Hugo_RFO.indd 82 2015/09/07 8:16 AM