WORK OF HEART

This reinvigorated late-Modernist home at the foot of Table Mountain has become an ever-evolving personal exhibition space for its gallerist owners and their young family

- SMITH

Candace and William Marshall-Smith decided to refurbish their Cape Town home while Candace was still energised after the renovation of her fine art gallery, SMITH, in the CBD.

Not long after moving from Joburg to Cape Town with their young family, Candace and William found a house in the City Bowl suburb of Oranjezicht. The house itself was a fairly unremarkable ’70s double-story. ‘It looked like a school building,’ laughs Candace, ‘but it had a wonderful sense of space, which is rare in Cape Town. It had incredible views of the city and Lion’s Head to one side, and it’s right at the foot of Table Mountain.’

A terraced, rocky garden with a beautiful stone staircase seems to bring the mountain right down to the edge of the house, giving it a strong sense of place. Yet, somehow, its potential had been overlooked, perhaps because of its inelegant architecture. But the position, and 360-degree outlook, were enough for the couple. ‘I just remember being astonished at the views,’ says Candace. And they could see potential in some of the house’s late mid-century features.

Nevertheless, she and William didn’t renovate immediately. ‘We lived in it for three years,’ she says. ‘We had time to consider what we wanted to do.’

Besides, Candace was rather taken up with the launch of her gallery in a beautiful idiosyncratic heritage building in Church Street. After the success of that project, however, she was ready for another challenge and decided to renovate. ‘I was excited to start the project,’ she says, adding that they had decided to have a third child, so she finally knew how many bedrooms to plan for.