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Stacking doors open up the open-plan lounge and dining area to the patio and braai. It’s a great space for entertaining friends. Zuco Little Perillo chairs contrast with and complement the 10-seater Pierre Cronje dining table. The hardwood flooring is by Oggie and the cluster of Tom Dixon Beat pendant lamps are from Créma Design. -
HotCocoa did the concept design of the staircase. The Muuto Under the Bell pendant lamps, from Créma Design, are made of recycled plastic felt. -
The kitchen cabinetry was made by WK Kitchens & Furniture from Wellington. A cluster of Tom Dixon Etch pendant lights hang above the breakfast bar. The swivel chairs are from Limeline. -
The wallpaper in the guest bathroom is from the Élitis Odyssée collection, Tahoe RM 756 01, which is available at St Leger & Viney. The bowls, by Ronel Jordaan, are made of felt with copper and gold paint inside. -
Lily is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Chelsy a Chihuahua. -
The rug was custom-made from a sketch that interior designer Dawn Dickerson drew, and the furniture was designed by HotCocoa. Atop the coffee table sits a gold Tom Dixon Form tea set that Lurien’s husband bought on a trip to the UK. -
Lily is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Chelsy a Chihuahua. -
The couple’s bedroom was decorated with tranquility in mind, hence the muted colours. The custom-made bed, headboard and side table were specifically designed to be lower than the average bedroom set. Lurien wanted something different for her bedside lamps, so HotCocoa had them custom-made. They have a Carrara marble base, a brass curved arm and a specially spun metal shade that’s spray-painted white. -
Joshua’s room was designed with his love for science and history in mind. Dawn sourced the map-of-the-world wallpaper after seeing it on an overseas trip. The Gan rug is from Limeline, and in the corner hang two Foscarini Diesel cage pendant lights. The furniture was custom-made for the space. -
Kate loves birds and fairies, so HotCocoa Interiors & Design sourced the tree stencil for her room from Tree Art. The bed is from Weylandts. -
Lurien wanted the decor in four-year old Khloe’s room to be classic and romantic. She bought the bed at Farriers Furniture in Plumstead. HotCocoa had the Alice in Wonderland chair custom-made and designed the rug, which was made in India. The wall art was painted by Tiziana Giardini.
PHOTOS Micky Hoyle PRODUCTION Sumien Brink WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo
The Rawson family home on Pearl Valley Golf & Country Estate near Paarl demonstrates a harmonious marriage of country living and modern style.
Many of us have pre-conceived notions about people and their homes. Prior to visiting the Rawsons, I certainly had mine about what a family home on a golf and country estate might look like. When I found out this family had moved to the Paarl–Franschhoek valley from Johannesburg, another set of ideas of what their home might look like popped up. It turned out that homeowner Lurien Rawson – working with interior designers Dawn Dickerson and Carmel Naudé of HotCocoa Interiors & Design – had far more interesting ideas.
“We built our previous home in Joburg, and while a little bit of this is based on that home, I wanted to bring in a lot of the earthiness of our current surroundings,” says Lurien.
Growing security concerns led to the family leaving the City of Gold and moving to Pearl Valley about six years ago, first renting a house. They fell in love with the area at the foot of Simonsberg, and just more than a year ago they decided to buy a plot and build the family home of their dreams.
Lurien says it was an amazing experience working with everyone involved in the project, including the builder, John Truter from Gemstone Construction in Paarl, and the cabinetmaker, WK Kitchens & Furniture in Wellington.
But long before the first brick was laid, Lurien had started to gather inspiration, forming a clear idea of what the house should look like. “I arrived at HotCocoa’s office with a thick file of images I’d collected and my Pinterest board. We had loads of meetings; fortunately, we had a very similar picture of the house in our heads.”
The result? A thoroughly contemporary living space with a country aesthetic. Here, you’ll find the same planks used for flooring and wall panelling. Look closer and you’ll see the same planks fashioned into a breakfast bar. Behind those wooden wall panels is storage space, which helps to keep the home uncluttered and serenely minimalist. There are no oil lamps in this country home – lighting is controlled from a single electronic pad: One touch of its screen and Lurien has the perfect lighting for dusk, entertaining or any of the system’s other pre-determined settings.
“I wanted to add sentimental value; I didn’t want to just pop into expensive shops and select a lot of ready-made items,” says Lurien, and indeed, personal touches abound. “I had it made by a guy in Woodstock who crochets copper wire,” she says when a delicate copper wire vase catches my eye. “A number of the artworks here are by an artist who lives in Paarl.” And so on it goes throughout the house, including the children’s bedrooms, which were decorated with their personalities in mind.
This is a family home, not a holiday spot to be visited once in a while and saved for retirement – a fact that didn’t escape Lurien throughout the building process. Today, it is a place she calls her sanctuary, her place of freedom, as well as a work in progress.
“I love being at home and putting this together, down to making sure I have fresh flowers in the house every day,” she says.
“I grew up in what was then the Eastern Transvaal, and I’ve always loved the freedom that comes with open spaces. This home, its surroundings, and the ease with which the interior and the exterior merge give me a sense of freedom.”
