Creative Green Point House

PHOTOS Micky Hoyle PRODUCTION Sumien Brink WORDS Anelde Greeff


The Cape Town home of an illustrious creative couple has an enchanting sense of fantasy and whimsy, underpinned by original art, local design classics and idiosyncratic collections.

An arresting Olaf Hajek painting hangs in the main bedroom of Nina van Reenen and Sascha Berolsky’s Green Point home. With bold combinations of colour and texture – and a common thread of nature – the German artist and illustrator’s work portrays a world of surreal fantasy and melancholic beauty. Mounted on a dramatic dark wall and overlooking a carefully curated room, it is an embodiment of the fantastical personality that subtly permeates every room in this house. 

A compact double-storey house last renovated in 1934, Nina and Sascha have completely revamped it to accommodate themselves and their two young boys, Leo and Sebastian. A shortage of creativity there is not. Nina is owner and creative director of design agency Room 13 – including the new Room 13 Collection of fabrics and wallpapers – and Sascha is the brain and driving force behind iconic Cape Town restaurants Royale Eatery, Citizen Beer and El Burro. 

Nina describes their personal styles as polar opposites – her love lies with antiques, his with mid-century – though it’s hard to see that two strong creative personalities were at play in putting the house together: it’s a harmonious space with a good shot of whimsy. Sascha was mostly responsibly for the structural and sculptural elements of their home, and Nina for the decorating.  

“I add the trinkets and shrines. And I faff. Much to Sascha’s annoyance,” she admits. With “faff”, Nina refers to her constant fiddling, reorganising and styling of their combined bounty of art, furniture and knick-knacks in and around the house. 

The art is a collection of mostly local pieces, from before and after they merged households four years ago, including work by Lyndi Sales, Paul Senyol, Marsi van de Heuvel, Warren Lewis and Lorraine Loots. And, of course, Olaf Hajek. The furniture brings an equally imposing line-up of local talent, with a fair share of pieces by James Mudge and Pedersen + Lennard, mixed with antique and junk shop buys. The crowning glory, however, is Gregor Jenkin’s signature Turned Table, which takes pride of place in the open-plan dining and living area. 

The knick-knacks scattered throughout the house are an example of the seamless merging of Nina and Sascha’s individual tastes and collections. Nina inherited many trinkets and tomes when her dad passed away – an assortment of old knives and pipes, paperweights, psychology books and more. And aside from all the mid-century furniture, Sascha’s contribution included the remnants of his large toy collection. “He had lots of strange-looking creatures around the house. When we moved in together I selected a few pieces to keep, and threw the rest away!” Nina confesses. 

These days, Sascha is responsible for adding living things to the house. His love for plants – and green fingers inherited from his mother – is visible in the flora growing throughout the house, and in the weather-beaten holes in the wall outside the front door. It’s beautiful and often surprising. A little bit of magic. Almost as if Olaf Hajek’s brush added his signature thread of nature to this happy home.