Not Bad for a Starter Pad

Newly-wed Clare Wiese-Wentzel and husband Marco have splashed out on a R90-million Cape Town home.

- Lara Atson

SHE’S never made any secret of the fact she has a taste for the finer things in life. Clare Wiese-Wentzel’s wedding earlier this year was a multimillion-rand extravaganza and one of the most glamorous and extravagant South Africa has ever seen (YOU, 5 May).

And now the middle child of billionaire Christo Wiese has once again splurged – on a luxury villa in the expensive Cape Town suburb of Clifton. The price? A hefty R90 million!

But as far as Clare is concerned it’s a smart buy. The property initially went on the market for R150 million but when there weren’t any offers it went on auction and that’s where she snapped it up. Her bid on the six-bedroom house on the exclusive Nettleton Ridge estate is the highest ever made on a residential property on auction in South Africa. The previous record was R54 million for a house in Sandhurst, Johannesburg.

Next year Clare (33) and her husband, former Sharks captain Marco Wentzel (37), will move into their mansion with its spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean.

The four-storey luxury villa is one of the most impressive in the neighbourhood and a stone’s throw from Nettleton Road, reportedly the most expensive street in the country. It stands on a property of 1 627 m 2 and boasts a lift, eight bathrooms, a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, wine cellar and garage with parking space for six cars – more than enough room for Clare’s black Porsche Macan S four-wheel drive and Marco’s silver Mercedes-Benz CLA 200 AMG.