house to the garden while suffusing it
with ‘a moody atmosphere’. ‘Because it’s
more of a summer house the dark interior
colours keep it cool,’ he says of the deep
greens, charcoals and greys of the palette
he employed in conjunction with the
slate-tiled floors. ‘What’s great about the
space is that on the bottom level you feel
as if you are on a forest floor and on the
top floor as though you’re in a canopy of
trees,’ he says.
Etienne played with scale when
furnishing the spaces by bringing in
generously proportioned couches, tables
and floor lamps. Darker-toned timber
was used in some of the decor pieces,
while fabrics were inspired by the colours
of leaves, varying from deep purple to
lime and turquoise. He was especially
resourceful when adding some of the
house’s more whimsical touches, such
as the bird prints seen throughout and
which allude to its name The Aviary. ‘We
had a vast amount of blank wall spacebut our budget just didn’t allow for art or
wallpaper,’ he explains of the images he
sourced, printed and framed. ‘We also
managed to get great colours into the
spaces. Each bird has its own personality.
Some are even camera shy.’
Etienne also enjoyed the challenge
of transforming the kitchen (‘beige all
over!’) into its current sleeker format. ‘We
face-lifted the carpentry by respraying
it a warm, dark grey, while the tops were
replaced with a flamed black granite that
added a great texture,’ he says. A mosaic
splashback in iridescent greens and blues
brings a peacock-tail sheen of glamour to
the space, which couldn’t be more apt.
Staying in doesn’t get better than
when it’s in a cool urban nest up in the
trees. Gerd Weideman Architects,
gerdweideman.co.za; Etienne Hanekom
Creative Studio, etiennehanekom.com.
This property is available for short-term
holiday rentals through Perfect Hideaways,
perfecthideaways.co.za.‘Cape Town is the most beautiful place
in the world and I wanted to be right in
the hustle and bustle of the City Bowl,’
he says. ‘I love the leafy, mountainous
feel of Higgovale.’
Victor spends ‘every opportunity’ he
can in Cape Town and the house can easily
accommodate an entourage of friends or
family with its four spacious bedroom
suites and various shared and secluded
lounges and patios. It’s also made for
entertaining, whether sunbathing on the
pool deck, enjoying sundowners up on the
roof deck, or hanging out in the open-plan
kitchen with a glass of wine while meals
are whipped up. For Victor, who is the
owner and operations manager of London
eatery Bocca di Lupo, as well as gelateria
Gelupo and the brand new ‘piazza-eria’
Vico, ‘it’s great being able to look out onto
the garden while cooking’.
Local creative whiz Etienne Hanekom
was brought in to work his magic on
the interiors with a brief to connect the84 HL OCTOBER 2015 HOUSEANDLEISURE.CO.ZA1015_HL_080_089_House_Hugo_RFO.indd 84 2015/09/07 8:17 AM
The walls of this lounge on the upper level are painted
in Plascon’s Sushi Wrap (GR-G09) (plascon.co.za).
The leather couch is from Klooftique (klooftique.com)
and the selection of colourful scatters was made up
by Bellacraft (bellacraft.com). OPPOSITE The central,
open-plan kitchen is a boon for entertainers. The Beat
lights above the dining table, which are by Tom Dixon,
are available from Créma Design (cremadesign.co.za)1015_HL_080_089_House_Hugo_RFO.indd 85 2015/09/07 8:17 AM