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THE CONSTANT GARDENER

by John Jacob Zwiegelaar

Written by Diana Vives

House and Garden - May 2006 

This tiny clever space conjured from a pokey one –bedroom apartment b y designer John Zwiegelaar has something of a metropolitan pied-a-terre - those New York or Paris apartments from which you emerge charged for social events to be held elsewhere. In contrast to Cape Town’s suburban lifestyle where entertaining space is not in short supply, it demonstrates the chic of an intimate nest in the heart of the city. 

‘The person for whom I design this space is a modern-day princess, a successful businesswoman who is always impeccable and glamorous, with a dress sense that is up to the minute. This is a place for her to come and perch two or three times a year and sip on a martini before going out,’ explains Zwiegelaar. Feminine luxury is further underscored by the fact that functional domesticity is spirited away in a kitchen that is more like a bling bar, with oven and fridge concealed behind cut mirrored doors. 

Less is more was certainly not behind the guiding maxim. Bold detailing and calibrated finishes combine with an abundance of textures to create a cosseted environment. ‘I like dramatic perspectives, dynamic spaces, light play on reflective surfaces. The room must have energy,’ explains Zwiegelaar. ’I also place a lot of emphasis on structural detailing and colour, so that even if you take away all the soft  furnishing, you have a beautiful shell. Decorating flows naturally from the Big Idea that is the spatial concept. ’An example  is the kitchen: We gave it back some dignity with heavy cornicing and skirting, replacing a poor man’s cornice, and a light tiled floor in Casa Stone-this looks like French Loire  Valley limestone and  gives the space some serious resonance.’ 

Zwiegelaar talks like an old hand. A measured confidence and aesthetic vision belie his youth and the fact that his company, John Jacob Interiors, was founded in 2004. But with a prodigious list of blue-chip assignments nearing completion, it is a matter of little time before his name becomes more than an insider secret. The private home and five-story Bree Street clinic of plastic surgeon Des Fernandes, Marianne Fassler’s apartment, Anthony Beck’s Clifton Second Beach bungalow and Graham Beck’s Franschhoek wine-tasting facility opening in July are among his projects. Another is the five-year Steenberg Hotel revamp, in Constantia, where a completed pool bar gives a taste of the fine things to come.  

There’s always a prologue to overnight success. A consummate chef and gardener, Zwiegelaar’s aesthetic apprenticeship goes back many years to an unusual childhood. ’As little children, we were dragged around gardens in Europe by my mother, in particular those of the chateaux in the Loire valley.’ When he was 14, he and his siblings found themselves juggling the roles of chefs, decorators and gardeners of the vast family farm. ’In Standard Six, my sister and I furnished a 2500-square-metre; nine-bed roomed house and landscaped the gardens. ‘Taking inspiration from the dramatic approaches of those Loire chateaux, he established a five-kilometer avenue of plane trees under planted with agapanthus leading up to the house. ’It remains my biggest landscaping project to this day,’ he laughs.  

Asked to define a signature style he replies, ’I step into the client’s shoes to choose for him or her from the range of things that I like. It inspires me to create stage-steps for people so that they shine in those spaces. And because it is so person-specific, nothing looks like anything else. Bree Street’s pared-down masculinity is the complete opposite of this ultra-feminine apartment, and Steenberg is a modern take on Cape Dutch.’  

That affinity for the theatrical runs through Zwiegelaar’s decor narrative. The ornate reflective surfaces of the kitchen are an example, as are the mirrored concertina doors that conceal the balcony-like shutters, or the over-sized objects furnishing this small space. Neoclassical tonality is another element that emerges from many of his projects, ’To try and convey a concept I use colour in a monochromatic manner.’ Rooms range from white to mother-of –pearl, shot with oyster grey. Dark accent anchor these tones, with mahogany floors lacquered in ebony, gun-metal grey sisal in the living room and cast-iron table base in the kitchen. This richly primed neutral backdrop is nuanced by the time of day, as light playfully glances off silver-leaved Oriental furniture, clusters of cut-glass decanters or the many mirrors.  

’I love detail. I’m most proud of the pelmet above the bed, made up for 450 pieces of Venetian mirror. I drew it up to scale in my office on pieces of cardboard. Signed by the artisan too. So bespoke, so cool,’ he says. A place this small invites close scrutiny and that is perhaps what led Zwiegelaar to create a place that beguiles.  

Scale varies by project. His favourite commission, the yearly styling of a safari destination for the Saudi Royal family, is quintessential mise and scene. ’We take over a bush camp and transform it to the highest standard of bespoke luxury. I love having to improvise.’ There’s no fretting about detail, no long lead times. ’you create about 35 dining rooms for the duration of their stay, bringing in half a forest of thorns or an oasis’ worth of palm fronds to create a scene  from an African One Thousand and One Nights. It’s almost absurdly fabulous-and ephemeral.