Noordhoek Home

WORDS Annette Klinger PRODUCTION Mark Sera PHOTOS Jan Ras

Situated in a grove of indigenous milkwoods overlooking an expansive beach, this contemporary treehouse embraces the fundamentals of eco-conscious architecture.

While Stefan Havenstien’s HAVENSTEIN’S Noordhoek residence is far from inconspicuous, you’d be forgiven for driving right past it. Sitting at the end of a narrow, meandering lane of milkwood trees, it’s practically obscured from view by the canopy. Once you know where to look, however, it seems impossible to have missed it. There, in a clearing among a grove of milkwoods, looms an imposing configuration of two interlocking cuboids in timber and brick, elevated by a collection of steel stilts – a cabin in a forest, drawn to its contemporary conclusion.

“Being hidden wasn’t the intention, but it ended up being a real plus,” says German expat Stefan, a software engineer by day and crime novelist by night, who bagged the tree-filled plot of land in 2019. From the outset, he envisaged a stilted double-storey cabin, so he reached out to a specialist in the field of timber design, architect Jacques Cronjé. “The design of the house was entirely driven by the site,” says Jacques. “There was literally only one small patch of open land we could build on where we’d disturb the least number of trees.” And because Stefan wanted a view, the only way to go was up. “The house is built up to the millimetre of the 10-metre height restriction, which is just below the treetops,”adds Jacques. “We knew the only way to access the view would be from a flat roof deck, which further informed the design.”

With milkwoods being a protected endemic species, Jacques and his team had to navigate a lot of red tape before they could break ground, first needing to obtain permission from the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and then the City of Cape Town, who insisted the necessary trees were removed by a professional arborist under the watchful eye of an environmental consultant.

While the original plan was to build the entire house from timber, its eventual top-heavy design necessitated the introduction of steel, brick and concrete. “The weight of the house is supported by eight steel stilts, a brick stairwell that forms the core of the house, and a concrete column,” says Jacques. “When you mix materials, it gives you a nice range to choose from in terms of the textural finishes for the elevations. Visually, each section of the house is true to what it’s built of: the brickwork is plastered, the timber frames are clad, and the steel has been left raw.”

The interior of the two-storey residence – the first floor housing a flatlet and an outdoor braai area; the second, occupied by Stefan, comprising an airy, open-plan living space and an en suite bedroom – speaks to the same materiality. Crisp-white plastered walls and blonde wooden floors and shelves are contrasted by black accents in painted rafters, steel-framed glass doors and windows, and fittings. On the top storey, stacking doors open up onto the tranquil vista of Stefan’s very own back-yard forest, while a series of clerestory windows under a mono-pitch roof on the opposite side looks out onto Chapman’s Peak.

All this pales in comparison to the view that meets Stefan when he steps out onto his roof deck. To the south, the shoreline of Noordhoek Beach unspools like a white ribbon towards Kommetjie, while to the north, Chapman’s Peak stands sentinel over it all. “It’s obviously my favourite place in the house,” says Stefan. “Sometimes, I like to come up here, lie down and take a nap.” And, in all seriousness, who can blame him? | timberdesign.co.za

 Don’t forget to sign up to our weekly newsletter for the latest architecture and design news.