Just The Right Balance

The home that cricket legend Jonty Rhodes and his architect wife Melanie share with their kids is a vibrant, tactile space that reflects the family’s love of the ocean and their globetrotting lifestyle.

- Kerryn Fischer

It seems fitting that Jonty Rhodes and his wife Melanie’s home is located in St James in Cape Town’s False Bay – a quiet coastal suburb famed for its warmer water, colonial architecture and ability to sidestep the city’s howling south-easter.

Jonty and Melanie, who first met six years ago while surfing, are ocean lovers who share a passion for longboarding. They’re often spotted at their home break in Muizenberg, just a few minutes away from their house.

The couple bought their 170-year-old heritage home online four years ago when they were based in India, where Jonty was coaching for the Indian Premier League. At the time, Melanie was pregnant with their daughter India, who is now four years old, and they were looking for a permanent home in South Africa to accommodate their extended family from their first marriages – namely Jonty’s daughter Daniella and his son Ross, and Melanie’s two sons, Ethan and Timothy.

“We wanted a relaxed family space where we could all hang out. Having rented in Muizenberg and Kalk Bay previously, we knew and loved the location,” says Melanie. “Although we didn’t view the house prior to buying it, it was the kind of classic old home that I’m naturally drawn to and it happened to tick all our practical boxes too with a garage, a decent-sized garden, and a natural spring.”

Old meets new

Melanie’s appreciation for the ‘old’ is rooted in a time when the world was less preoccupied with excess and ‘sameness’.