IN BALANCE

While it was first and foremost created to fit around their family, this 1920s home at the foot of Table Mountain reflects the refined design sensibilities and collector's eye of its owners

- MANDY ALLEN

Welcome Home

Emmanuelle Sebillet at the front entrance to Lemon Tree Cottage. The home is located on the fringe of the newly rejuvenated East City Precinct with its apartment buildings and repurposed industrial warehouses, as well as the historic Gardens residential near Table Mountain.

There's something of the chic Parisian spirit at the heart of this Cape Town period cottage; that very specific combination of laissezfaire ease and studied sophistication that is so uniquely French (not to mention infuriatingly tricky to recreate). It all makes perfect sense when you discover the provenance of its owners: Interior Architect Emmanuelle Sebillet and renowned Architect and Landscape Designer Patrice Taravella.

Emmanuelle, who has called South Africa's Mother City home for almost 20 years, remains tethered to Europe through her family and friends, regular sourcing trips for her local clientele to the city's brocantes (flea markets), as well as to Patrice, who commutes between the French capital, Cape Town and Florence, where he is currently at work on the restoration of a Renaissance villa.

Outside the high exterior walls is the city's newly rejuvenated East City Precinct as well as the historic Garden's neighbourhood (the house is located on the fringes of both). Once inside though, the urban buzz is quickly replaced by a mood that, while refined, is decidedly comfortable and family-friendly.

Charm reigns in this house that dates to 1925, from its name - 'Lemon Tree Cottage, a reference to the two resident trees that produce fruit in abundance through to an interior comprised -of collectible designs, antique curiosities, enchanting artefacts, bespoke furniture and intriguing art, all wittily assembled to provide constant visual stimulation and express the personalities of its owners. 'It was a very liberating experience, being my own client for a change,' says Emmanuelle with a wink.