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Cliffhanger : The side profile of the house shows the descending deck structure. -
Cliffhanger : A slatted wooden panel allows light to penetrate into the bedroom corridor that runs along the back of the house. -
Cliffhanger : The beach is only one kilometre away from the house. -
Cliffhanger : This large space accommodates both the living and dining areas. The cane sofas, designed by Nikki, were made by artisans in Chimbarongo. Nikki also designed the table, that Marcelo made from pine. The chairs are from the Sodimac Home Centre in Santiago. -
Cliffhanger : The beach at Maitencillo, where the family spends long, energetic days together. -
Cliffhanger : The back of the house is finished with a wooden wall, which helps with sound insulation for the bedrooms. -
Cliffhanger : The master bedroom is separated from the living area by a sliding door. -
Cliffhanger : The sun chairs and coffee table were handmade by a Chilean craftsman in Limache out of aluminium and wood.
PHOTOS: Mads Mogensen | PRODUCTION: Martina Hunglinger | WORDS: Nadine Rubin
Cape Town-born Nikki Butler and her husband once dreamed of living in a New york-style loft at the ocean. It took only six months for their dream to be realised on top of a cliff in a small Chilean town.
“It was a lifestyle decision to leave New York and move to Santiago,” says Big Apple bead queen Nikki Butler, whose celebrity clients include Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts, Britney Spears, Gisele Bündchen and Heidi Klum.
“We didn’t want the kids growing up in New York. We wanted them to experience what we had when we were young, which still exists in Chile,” explains the former model turned jewellery and fashion designer. The “we” includes Nikki’s husband, Big Magazine editor-in-chief Marcelo Junemann, whom she met while in Madrid on a modelling job and married in 1995.
Five years ago, the pair sold their homes in New York and Cape Town, bought an apartment in Santiago and followed their dream of building a second house at the beach in a small town called Maitencillo, about two hours’ drive from the Chilean capital.
Marcelo met architect Felipe Assadi when the two collaborated on Big Magazine’s architecture issue, which Felipe curated.
“We loved his design sensibility and thought he was the best person to interpret what we wanted: a New York loft at the ocean where the entire space is able to open up completely,” says Nikki.
Felipe followed the brief, designing a space where the terrace comes into the house and, once all the doors open, there is a feeling of being outdoors. “It’s a fantastic space to arrive to and it doesn’t need a lot of maintenance because it’s so simple.”
An open living space
In what may seem like a superhuman effort to many Capetonians, the house took exactly six months to build.
“We started in May 2005 and it was finished in time for Christmas. No headaches, no hiccups,” Nikki explains. The house, built on a beautiful, big piece of land, appears to be suspended on top of a cliff, parallel to the ocean. A steep road leads to the beach. “We have neighbours on either side but they’ve planted pine trees so we don’t often see them.”
Inside the house, the living area is given pride of place. Each of the three bedrooms is substantially smaller: the master bedroom is separated from the living area by a sliding door, and the other two bedrooms at the back of the house are accessed from a corridor.
“The bedrooms are just sleeping areas because everybody is using the pool, the deck, the space. I find enormous bedrooms a waste of space – how long do you spend in one?” asks Nikki. “The bigger and more open my living space is, the better. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in the kitchen when everyone else is outside having fun.”
Pine floors run throughout the house and the space is kept slick with ingenious floor-to-ceiling sliding doors. Behind each one you’ll find a TV or a fridge but, when they’re closed, it looks like there’s nothing in the house.
“I love the beauty and warmth of wood and glass. I think concrete houses are cold,” says Nikki.
The glass doors turn sideways (the windows sit back-to-back vertically) to open until the entire front panel seems completely open. “The windows were Felipe’s idea. They create a mosaic-like pattern and the idea is that each window is a picture frame. It’s an incredible effect.”
Minimalist decor
Given the simple facade, the couple wanted equally minimalist decor. “The beds were built in and we did not want a cluttered living room. Sometimes the kids skateboard around – they use it like a roller rink,” Nikki laughs.
She wanted to give work to local artisans and so had a lot of the furniture made. “I went to a town called Chimbarongo that’s dedicated to cane furniture and we had a great set made for the living room. It’s painted light grey and the pieces are modular – they can be moved around and joined together to make a bed.”
Marcelo made the table and Nikki stained and whitewashed it. “Marcelo has made a table for our home in every country we’ve lived in. He’s very good with his hands,” says Nikki.
She found the inexpensive chairs at a local home centre, shipped the seagrass ottoman from South Africa and dotted around rattan cushions and rustic or Art Deco pieces that she found while living in New York. The side tables in the main bedroom are made from tree trunks bought from a local woodcutter.
Soaking up the sun
Now, summer or winter, Nikki, Marcelo and their young sons leave their four-bedroom apartment in Santiago to spend every weekend at the beach house.
“Maitencillo’s weather is similar to Cape Town’s,” says Nikki. “Winter in Santiago can be cold and rainy but often when we get to the beach it’s beautiful and sunny. The coastal mountain range protects the ocean from the cold that comes from the Andes. You can’t swim in winter but you can walk around in a T-shirt.”
In the mornings you’ll usually find the family on Playa Blanca beach. “Many of our friends also own houses there so we’ll get together for the kids to play touch rugby, surf or go skim-boarding.”
The rest of the weekend is about eating and drinking good wine. “I love to cook and people often come over for lunch,” says Nikki, who takes the five-minute drive into Maitencillo to buy fresh fish and seafood. “We’re always stocking up with calamari, shrimp, mussels and clams.”
In summer, the family makes use of the barbecue on the oak deck and it goes without saying that lunch often extends into the evening. On other weekends the family won’t leave the house. “We’ll stay on the deck, stare at the sea, soak up the sun and simply do nothing.”
A curatorial work in progress
While the garden, which is planted with fynbos, olive trees and Pride of Madeira, is a veritable feast of colour, the walls of the house are currently bare. However Nikki says this is only temporary as she’s been photographing macro images of nature and flowers.
“It’s hard to have things around you when you’re creative – it’s too distracting,” she says. “Marcelo has an incredible archive of images from the best photographers from all around the world but we simply can’t choose.”
While the beach house remains a curatorial work in progress, Nikki is getting itchy feet in Santiago. “I want to build another house,” she says, explaining that while the beach house invites nature in, her new vision is a city house that keeps everything out.
“There are a lot of robberies in Santiago, so this concept will be about security. You won’t see a single window when looking at the house from the outside. The terrace will be inside and the house will revolve around it. Maybe in two years’ time. We’ll see.”
