Relaxed Bed & Breakfast: Casa Del Sonder

WORDS Michaela Stehr IMAGES Supplied

A young creative couple expanded on their homely and eclectic Observatory coffee stop, building a bright and welcoming bed and breakfast called Casa Del Sonder nestled in the cultural hub of the Bo-Kaap.

Michelle Fredman and Chase Dell are business partners, a couple, as well as the brains behind the Sonder brand. With a background in photography and tourism, Chase decided to open his backpackers in Jeffreys Bay in 2019. Michelle studied journalism and was working as a copywriter at an ad agency in London while also recovering from a stem cell transplant to cure aggressive lymphoma. Luckily it worked! 

“We fell in love during the year 2020, over Facetime, while confined to the parameters of our living rooms. Once the borders re-opened the two of us decided to move back to Cape Town together,” explains Michelle. “After the pandemic had forced Chase to shut his business and I decided to quit my job in pursuit of something more meaningful, we made the bold (read crazy) decision to open our cafe (Sonder Cafe) in Observatory, in January 2021.”

The idea behind the cafe was to create a space that aligned with the word Sonder, which means “the realization that every individual is living a life as deeply vivid and complex as your own.” They hoped to create a space that embodied this concept by bringing strangers together through art, conversation and good coffee. 

In 2022, after a year and a half of running and growing their cafe, they started shopping around the market, hoping to find their dream guesthouse. The goal was to cultivate a warm and homey space in the heart of the city that would essentially become an extension of their Observatory cafe, a home away from home, that celebrated the couple’s love of art, travel and people.

“When we stumbled upon this building, we knew it was the perfect spot. Nestled amidst the colourful houses of Bo-Kaap and the cobbled streets of De Waterkant, Casa Del Sonder is a beautifully restored Dutch house with a stunning view of Table Mountain and the city bowl,” exclaims Michelle.

The space’s aesthetic can be loosely defined as eclectic, colourful and vintage. With a mix of both contemporary and mid-century furniture pieces, largely sourced from Facebook marketplace or bought from local collectors, they aimed to bring the past to life and celebrate their love of colour. With 70s-inspired decor, vibrant Persian carpets and an amalgamation of mixed materials from rattan headboards to velvet armchairs, the space is both chaotic and refined in a way that perfectly embodies the ethos of the Bo-Kaap, as well as their love of life. 

“We hope to evoke a feeling of both comfort, joy and excitement in our guests,” the team elaborates. “While our space is familiar in a way that feels like being in your favourite eccentric aunty’s house, it is also modern and curated so that we hope guests still feel like they are on holiday and somewhere special.”

Being a young couple on a limited budget meant we couldn’t work with many of the incredible designers and artists they hoped to. “But, we enlisted the likes of some of our friends and favourite local artists to help bring to life our walls,” they say. “The marvellous Amy Ayanda painted a gorgeous mural in our staircase, and we commissioned Danielle Jordaan to complete a painting of our colourful exterior. Artist Lisa Nelson designed our beautiful logo (for both our cafe and the lodge), and my father Nic Fredman has several of his intricate landscapes and abstract pieces hung up around the lodge.”

Case Del Sonder’s most breathtaking feature could perhaps be the rooftop. “Without a doubt, the rooftop is our favourite feature. The views are spectacular and we love it when guests and friends come and mingle up there, braaiing or splashing in our pool or simply soaking in the sunset. It is a special place that brings people together,” says Chase.

Finding the perfect spot seemed to happen organically and they couldn’t be happier to be in a community-driven, inclusive and creative neighbourhood. “There are so many elements of the Bo-Kaap we love. Of course, the community aspect of the neighbourhood first drew us in, everyone is friendly and talks to their neighbours which you can’t help but love,” elaborates Michelle. “The cultural diversity is wonderful (we love hearing the Mosque’s soulful call to prayer every day) as well as the celebration of colour as seen in its colourful houses and its proximity to the centre of town is also a winning feature. We can walk to the Waterfront, Green Point or Bree Street right from our doorstep which our guests love.”

The team has many plans for the space but their latest brainchild is to convert the front of the bed and breakfast into a coffee hatch, bringing the smooth aroma of their much-loved brews to the Bo-Kapp streets. “We have a myriad of ideas for the space. From hosting more events on our rooftop, from First Thursday drinks to pop-ups and cultural evenings,” says Michelle. “However our next project is to convert our current office at the front of the building (a former garage) into a cafe for both our guests and the public to enjoy their own little Sonder cafe in town. We aim to open this towards the end of the year right in time for the summer season.”

Follow the cafe and bed and breakfast on Instagram.

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