House and Garden magazine – September 2015

 

High definition

 

A classic chiaroscuro of light and dark defines the sophisticated interiors of this beach house on the Cape’s Atlantic

 

House and Garden magazine – September 2015

 

It’s about more than just getting the bones of the house right, it’s about writing the language of how you’re going to live.’ That was interior architect John Jacob’s approach to this three-year-long Llandundno project that would see him and the team he carefully assembled transformation one of the coastal retreat’s last undeveloped pieces of land into not just a home, but an exercise in timeless design.

‘Architecturally speaking, I’m not one for quirky details. In fact, I’m completely opposed to them, ‘says John. ‘What I am for is extremely rational structures. Without that you’ll end up with a building will have no dignity.’

 

‘You won’t believe how difficult it was to find this place,’ is a phrase you’ll often hear among gushy homeowners but, in the case of this address, it’s never been trust. After all, how many people can claim to have, quite literally, carved their house out of the mountainside? The entire volume of the house had to be chopped out of stone,’ says John, explaining how the site had remained undeveloped – an anomaly on the famed stretch of coastline. ‘We were very sensitive to creating a good shell, especially in terms of detailing, I’ve always said that I’d rather live in a house with no furniture but with awesome windows and door.

If the proportions are perfect I don’t mind just sitting on the floor,’ he says of his macro-to-micro approach. ‘There has to be synergy between the furnishing and the architectural space, and to create potent spaces, large architectural elements are always the primary focus.’ John’s dazzle factor’s takes the form of private docks that lead off of each of the house’s sprawling suites, as well as a main, shaded deck for entertaining.

John’s description of the scene, when the nearly four-metre-high doors have been folded back and the house has been opened up to a cascade of ‘really intense light’, certainly does argue the case for considered planning that places your home in perfect harmony with its surrounds.

 

John had the pleasure of working with homeowners who held a similar ideal. Described by the positively Fibonaccian designer as unconventional and creative, their mandate for John was to create a space that was modern but not hard, sensitive to the coastal vemacular while steering clear of any contravention of originality.

‘The first thing they said they said to me was, “Please, don’t give us a cliché beach house”, he laughs. And, with its sleek lines, made-to-measure furniture and minimalist aesthetic, it’s safe to say that he stuck to the brief. ‘From the start you need to decide on the vemacular of the house,’ he continues, ‘and this home is a concept as much as it is a residence, so we had fun. We decided to render the interior as a nightclub by the sea’.

When it came to decorating the space, John insisted on creating custom pieces that adhered to his strict notions of proportion and synergy. ‘Layering the interior takes time because, again, you want to avoid any cliché, he says of the mix of one-off pieces and accessories collected in New York and the markets of Europe.

‘I enjoy decorating a space with pieces that are atypical of what you’d expect to see in a South African interior because I don’t want the homeowners to have something that’s not unique to them.’

 

John’s notion of synergy, however, is not only applicable to the house but rather to the overall position of the structure in its natural surrounds. From its rocky foundations to its sweeping views of the Atlantic, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor experience was a no-brainer for the interior architect.

‘We wanted to create a lot of screening so we planted these towering Milkwood trees around the property,’ he says. “Today it just feels like the mountain comes up around the house – it’s perfectly placed and perfectly private.’

 

Read more John Jacob Interiors Magazine features here…