John Jacob Zwiegelaar

WORDS: Sophia Theron

With projects like the Graham Beck Wine Estate and numerous private homes under his belt, John Jacob Zwiegelaar is an interior designer who is well worth watching.

Growing up on a farm in Elgin, John knew from a very young age that he was into “everything lifestyle”. When his parents got divorced, he naturally took over the role of decorating the house in which he stayed with his father.  

At school he thought he’d go into the hotel and restaurant business, but a gap year in London and experience working at hotels and restaurants in Ireland changed his mind.  “I soon realised I was more interested in the concept of the hotels than in the operational side.”

After completing a degree in Economics and Human Resources at the University of Cape Town, John  spent a year working at Design Time in Cape Town. One big architectural project gave him what he needed to start John Jacob Interiors in 2005, and today it’s clear that his design philosophy is deeply influenced by his respect for architecture.  

“A good design is about letting the architectural language of a building speak,” he says. “I know it sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. Everything you do in a house – in fact, on an entire property – must be an ordered, rational response to the architectural language of a building.”

Authenticity, John believes, is a key element. “If a client comes to me and says that they want a Provencal farmhouse, I take them to France and show them where (the style) comes from. I don’t believe in watered-down versions of an original style.” 

John spends weeks researching a concept once he’s taken on a project. The result is a well-spoken answer to what his clients ask for.

“I seldom work on finished houses where I re-do only the inside. The interior decorating – what I call ‘the fluff’ – must adhere to the same stringent inherent architectural style. Seeing only the decoration is having a superficial approach to design.” 

Right now, John is looking forward to the completion of a wing of the Vergelegen Estate main house in Somerset-West. “I’ll be enhancing what the house already has with more line and less clutter, but will keep it in the original Cape Dutch style.”

Another exciting development is the launch of a new range of textiles by John Jacob Interiors at Hertex Fabrics in September this year.

John Jacob Interiors: www.johnjacobinteriors.com, info@johnjacob.co.za, +27 (21) 422 0105