Karoo character in the city

When your heart belongs to the platteland but you’ve made a home in Pretoria, you bring the best of both worlds together.

- Marlene Malan

WHO LIVES HERE? Josef and Liezel Kleynhans, their kids Thiart, Hermón and Jóreke, and their dog Mila

WHERE Zwavelskloof Estate, Zwavelpoort, Pretoria SIZE about 568m²

Table from enStyle; island counter from Mammoth Granite

This typical Karoo-style kitchen has a modern edge. “The long table was originally intended for the office, but then I decided it was too beautiful for that space,” says Liezel. The kitchen is especially cosy when there’s a fire burning in the indoor braai. The dining chairs were bought at different times. Josef built the island from recycled Oregon pine; the top is Enduro Quartz in the colour Snow Cemento. The sink rests on a second-hand oak cabinet, while steel shelves next to the stove, as well as the windows, create an industrial feel. All the floors were screeded and sealed with Cemcrete’s Colour Hardener.

It was in Nieu-Bethesda, during one of the family’s visits to this town near Graaff-Reinet, that Josef noticed how some homeowners had converted irrigation dams into swimming pools. “Our idea for the pool originated there,” he says. “We wanted it to look like a dam. Since there is a flood line on our erf, which limited the area we could build on, we had to fit the pool in somewhere. That’s why it’s so long and thin. But it’s perfect for swimming lengths.”

Architect Ané Gouws of TV3 Architects