A holiday at home

Inspired by her travels to Bali, Jodi Lawrence has created an escapist retreat in Fish Hoek.

- Kim Arendse

Just days before flights out of SA were banned in 2020, Jodi Lawrence caught a plane to Bali, Indonesia in a bid to save her furniture and décor import business. She didn’t know then that she’d spend the next two years there, as Covid-19 gripped the globe.

She and her son Levi (13) luxuriated in the laid-back island lifestyle, but Jodi also spent time working and learning all she could (and as much as Covid restrictions would allow) from the Indonesian manufacturers for her online store, Eight Degrees South. Her business partner and best friend Lola Casey held the fort in Cape Town, where they’re based.

“There were lots of virtual coffee and wine dates – Bali is six hours ahead, so I’d be enjoying a glass of wine in the evening while Lola had her morning coffee,” Jodi says.

In the midst of it all, Jodi had another problem to attend to: she had sold her previous house (featured in Home November/December 2020) and they no longer had a home base.

After months of searching, Lola found them a rather unlikely home: a small, outdated spot in the coastal town of Fish Hoek on Cape Town’s South Peninsula.

“Apart from being close to the ocean for Levi, who’s an avid surfer, I didn’t have specifications for the house as I knew we’d transform it to suit us,” says Jodi. “After living in Bali, you’d think I’d have my heart set on a beachfront home, but I’ve learned that you don’t have to live close to the beach to create a particular feeling; you create whatever feeling and look you want in your home, no matter where you are.”

Make the connection