Little house in the forest

Thanks to her capable father, Neilke Pretorius and her partner enjoy an idyllic lifestyle in a custom-made home hidden in the trees.

- Mary Jane Harris

If this house had a label on it, it would say Handmade by Martin. Almost everything the eye can see has been built or crafted by retired mechanical engineer Martin Pretorius.

Martin and his wife Anniek have lived on their two-hectare property on the outskirts of Pretoria for almost 24 years. "A couple of years ago, our youngest daughter Neilke, a landscaper, was working in the area and living in a cottage on our property. We so enjoyed having her nearby and I thought that if I built her a little house, she would stay," says Martin, who admits that he also loves to take on a new project.

Neilke was thrilled by the prospect. "I immediately started coming up with ideas. I wanted a face brick feature wall, angled ceilings, ceiling beams, screeded floors in the living room and kitchen, and wooden floors in the bedroom," she recalls. And that was just the start...

The site they decided on for the new house consisted of rocks and bush, which Martin and two helpers had to clear before construction could begin. Access to the site was a problem.

"Because of the rocks, there was no way you could take a wheelbarrow up there," Martin explains. "Everything from concrete to bricks had to be carried in buckets by hand. At one stage, I thought about putting in rails for one of those trolleys they used in the old mines." As Martin did all the building work himself, from the brickwork and plastering to the electrics and plumbing, it took him about a year to complete the house.

A team effort