The Life Aquatic

Two legendary designers’ affinity for the sea flows through the modernist architecture of this Langebaan house.

- Jessica Ross

Ask Gwen and Gawie Fagan about their holiday home and they’ll tell you they don’t have one. ‘A home is a home wherever it is,’ says Gwen. ‘We don’t distinguish between holiday and ordinary houses. It’s a place that makes us happy. It’s part of us.’

Yet as you stand on the terrace of this low-slung abode right on Langebaan’s frothy shoreline – surrounded by the rhythmic crashing waves, cawing seagulls and the salty-sweet sea breeze – you’re struck with that quintessential holiday feeling. And no one seems more relaxed here than Gawie and Gwen as they recline, always hand-in-hand, on their deckchairs overlooking the ocean.

Admittedly, reclining is an unusual activity for the husband-and-wife team who, midway into their 90s, are still at work every day at Gabriël Fagan Architects on Bree Street. ‘It’s a sense of relief when you arrive here,’ says Gwen of their Langebaan bolthole. ‘We love the sea.’

An affinity for water is rooted in Gawie’s upbringing. ‘He’s always been fond of the sea and building boats,’ says Gwen, who recalls Gawie’s intrepid seafaring adventures with a knowing smile. ‘He’s done the Cape to Rio five times and in the last race, when he was 80, he was the oldest man with the smallest boat and he came first!’