BUILDING on the past

By keeping the original structure and extending it, this Durban couple turned a 1950’s house into a contemporary family home

- CANDICE BOTHA

WHO LIVES HERE

Sarah McGregor, product development and sales executive for SOH Collections, a home scenting solutions company, her husband, Rex, a company director, their children Charlotte (6) and Luke (5) and bunnies Cottontail and Red-Red.

THE HOUSE

A single storey in Durban North with an open-plan kitchen, dining room, living area and patio. There are also four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a TV room, library, study and powder room.

After several months of unsuccessful house hunting, Sarah McGregor took matters into her own hands. Spotting a house in the right area that had potential, she put a note in the postbox asking the owners to contact her should they decide to sell. “The phone rang that afternoon and we concluded the sale soon afterwards,” she says.

What appealed to Sarah and her husband Rex about the property was the location, the good bones and the space to extend if they filled in the enormous pool.