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The bright red front door is flanked by indigenous thatching reed planted by Cornel. -
Khinya sits in front of a serving table that Cornel made. The farm implements were bought at an antiques shop in Mossel Bay. -
The driftwood chandelier was made by Cornel and the black tree artwork was drawn by Cornel and coloured in by Marlize. The sofa is from Sofaworx and the copper anglepoise lamp is from Weylandts. -
The bar stools are from Arabesque and the wooden cantilevered beam is made out of an old railway sleeper sourced in Riebeek-Kasteel. The suspended light and the mirror behind the bar are from Weylandts. A tiny red beaded giraffe adds an element of playfulness to the bar counter. -
The lights and bar stools in the kitchen are from Weylandts. -
The mezzanine level makes the perfect study nook. -
Three Marie Stander prints enjoy pride of place on the wall behind the dining table. Cornel made the wine rack out of mild steel and safety glass. The table is from Vintage White in Riebeek-Kasteel and the chairs are from Chikadee and Weylandts. -
The tree-of-life painting in the lounge was Marlize’s 30th birthday gift from her parents. The sofa is from Weylandts and the poof from smacs.co.za. The side table was made by Cornel. The ottoman was a gift from Cornel’s parents and the wooden chair against the far wall was bought on eBay. Cornel made the steel-and-wood serving table. -
In the main bedroom, the bedside tables are from Coricraft and the lamps from Weylandts. Cornel made the bed. -
Sleepers were used to create the shelving and countertop in the bathroom. Cornel tiled the pebble floor. -
The plunge pool on the patio is reminiscent of a farm reservoir. The pergola and outside woodwork were done by Decksmiths. -
Cornel and Marlize de Jongh transformed an ordinary suburban home into a very special sanctuary.
PHOTOS Jan Ras PRODUCTION Sumien Brink WORDS Tracy Greenwood
This inventive duo transformed a dilapidated suburban home into a stylish retreat.
Cornel de Jongh is not one to shy away from a challenge. Nor is he afraid to get his hands dirty. Which is why, when he and his wife Marlize began their search for a fixer-upper in Durbanville in 2009, their only concerns were that the bones of the place were to their liking and that there was a fireplace and a wooden floor in the mix.
The tiny house on which they pinned their dream was nothing much to look at. Its location, on the edge of the Durbanville wine valley, was pretty enough, but the property itself needed an epic overhaul. The cottagey house, a rectangular structure in canary yellow with peeling wooden doors and windowframes, needed a serious revamp if they were to fulfil their domestic dream.
“The back yard was no more than a tract of parched grass littered with rusty old cars,” says Cornel, “but the bones were there, just beneath the surface. I could see them!” And so the deal was done.
The couple lived in the house for a while to get a feel for the flow of the space before deciding how to go about making improvements. They started by extending the footprint of the dwelling to the left and right, changing its shape from a cramped rectangle to a spacious square that opens onto the garden.
“Our budget was tight,” says Cornel. He is a mechanical engineer and did most of the planning, computer rendering and even a lot of the interior projects himself.
Two of the three bedrooms were given direct access to the garden, and the patio was closed off with stacking doors. It now opens onto a decked terrace and a small round pool inspired by concrete farm dams.
“Marlize and I redesigned the landscaping ourselves, too,” says Cornel. “We planted thorn trees and Cape thatch-ing reed to create a water-wise garden. I built a lapa in a corner of the garden, which is perfect for braaiing or making a potjie with friends on windless days.”
Seven years have passed since the project began, and the fruits of Cornel and Marlize’s labours are anything but ordinary. The De Jonghs have put their stylish stamp on every nook and cranny of their rejuvenated home, from the bright red front door (above which is suspended a small driftwood chandelier that echoes its big brother in the lounge) to the central living area (yes, it has a fireplace and a wooden floor).
The colour scheme throughout is restful, with an emphasis on natural elements: weathered wood, steel and concrete. Wooden beams were sourced from as far afield as Tulbagh and the floors were screeded in a bone shade to add to the contemporary feel.
Anecdotal pieces that reflect Cornel and Marlize’s life together are dotted throughout, like the driftwood chandeliers – each piece of driftwood collected on their travels around southern Africa before being strung together as functional art pieces – and the intricate tree-of-life artwork, a precious gift to Marlize from her parents on her 30th birthday. Then there are the portraits of the couple’s beloved Staffordshire terriers, Umfaan and Khinya, and a depiction of a tree that was drawn by Cornel and coloured in by Marlize.
It is, after all, personal touches like these that differentiate a house from a home.
