Before and After: Wellington Family Home

WORDS Amelia Brown IMAGES Skillie of Kikitography (before); Daniela Zondagh (after)


It’s yet another new chapter for a former dairy in Wellington that has been converted into a characterful home that continues to grow with its young family.

In the four years that Tina and Hannes Maritz, the busy creatives and entrepreneurs behind the wedding and event coordinating business [kraak], have lived in the over-one-hundred-year-old former-dairy-turned-packing-shed, the open-plan space has afforded them flexibility to evolve with their needs and lifestyle.

For the initial renovation when they moved in with a newborn, they kept the long rectangular building open plan, using furniture (they’re both avid collectors) to demarcate areas. A white Wendy house, intended to be their son’s bedroom as he grew, was a quirky focal point. Their bedroom was upstairs in what would have been the dairy manager’s office.

As they lived in the building and got to know it through the seasons, including the challenge of heating and cooling the space, they refined and adapted their requirements. They realised the need for a work-from-home office space, and, as Tina fell pregnant with their second child, bedrooms.

For the most recent remodelling, the Maritzes called upon the expertise of local handyman, “Oom Gert” Coetzee to help. He has become indispensable: Hannes does the drawing or finds the project, and Oom Gert executes. Their vision was to work with the structure rather than against it to uphold its original features and character, like the brickwork and original roof.

The retro-industrial feel is further emphasised by the exposed cooling system, traditionally used in fruit packing sheds, cabling, and steel-and-glass floor-to-ceiling atrium-style doors and dividers. The latter create a green house feel, reinforced by the abundance of greenery. The couple are already dreaming of its next incarnation.

To read the full story of the transformation, pick up a copy of VISI 91, on sale until 24 September 2017.