This private beach house villa is the family home of Stefan Antoni, architect and director of SAOTA Architects, perched on Lion’s Head mountain in Clifton, Cape Town, South Africa. Set dramatically into the hillside, this dwelling provides sweeping views over Clifton’s white sandy beaches and beyond to the Twelve Apostles.
Designed as a contemporary setting for life and art, this home offers the full comfort of a modern home while drawing its inspiration from its surroundings. Entry into this home is from Nettleton Road, which is one of the premier streets in South Africa. Carefully structured into the hillside, there are four lower stories with tantalizing glimpses of two more levels that tower above. Scroll down for the floor plans and an informative video!
DESIGN DETAILS: ARCHITECTS SAOTA INTERIOR DESIGNER ARRCC INTERIOR DECOR OKHA ENGINEERS Moroff & Kühne CONTRACTOR Cape Island Construction LIGHTING CONSULTANT Martin Doller Design LANDSCAPING Nicholas Whitehorn Landscape Design
The lower levels play host to six generous bedrooms, three of which can be interlinked for a family suite, and to a double volume entertainment space complete with spa, games, and cinema. Principal living is at the very top of the building – an expansive, double-height open plan space that houses kitchen, bar, dining, living and family rooms as well as a winter lounge, study, and art studio at a mezzanine level.
The glazed lines between inside and out peel back to blur the boundaries in a continuous transparent space that links a generous back garden opening directly onto Table Mountain National Park to a pool that stretches out towards the sea in front.
The entrance facade responds to Le Corbusier’s definition of architecture as a “magnificent play of masses brought together in light” – and the journey through space and light that follows is clearly inspired by the Modernist movement. From the almost chiaroscuro treatment of the cavernous entrance hall, the visitor is led upwards towards the generous light of the upper living levels.
The spatial experience is similarly considered; the house feels like a robust, seamless form whose functions are defined by intersecting planes, ceilings, and floor treatments.
This concept is used from the macro scale of the bar whose glazed form slides dramatically out of the house, floating over the swimming pool with a glass floor, to material scale of the rough concrete over the main lounge and the timber ceiling on the level below – which, in the true spirit of this house – is made from the very same blemished boards which shuttered the concrete above.
The masterful interplay of light, space, and raw materiality in the house plays generous host to its other family – a considered collection of contemporary South African art.
What We Love: This fabulous beach house in Cape Town provides mesmerizing views over white sandy beaches and the tranquility of the sea. A fantastic indoor-outdoor connection maximizes these views, bringing in fresh ocean air breezes while extending living and entertaining spaces. Stylish furnishings, unique artwork, and beautiful materials and finishes can be found throughout this stunningly designed home… and we are simply awe-struck with those views!
Tell Us: What are your overall thoughts on the architect and design of this architect’s personal family home? Please let us know in the Comments below!
Note: Check out a couple of other popular home tours that we have showcased here on One Kindesign from the portfolio of the architects of this home, SAOTA Architects: Spectacular modern dream home on the island of Ibiza and Brilliantly designed South African home with magnificent ocean views.
The lines between home and gallery are always blurred; and from the Paul Blomkamp tapestry and Paul Edmunds sculpture which animate the mystical entrance hall, to Porky Hefer’s playful (and inhabitable) “Blowfish” which floats within the double volume entertainment area, to the African masks worked into the dark walls over the kitchen, the collection is always carefully curated to work with the architecture. The interiors were created by ARRCC together with OKHA.
PHOTOGRAPHER Adam Letch & Stefan Antoni
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