Romantic revamp

WORDS Debbie Loots

Oozing the charm and easy sophistication of a time when men donned smoking jackets and their partners ostrich feathers in glittery hairbands, is Cape Town’s Kloof Street House restaurant and bar. Its newest owner teamed up with an interior designer who loves vintage as much as he does, and together they not only transformed the inside of this turn of the century villa but also made full use of its glorious outside spaces.

It’s hard to believe the late Victorian villa in lower Kloof Street – built as businesswoman Constance Muller’s boarding house back in 1904 – has occupied its prime spot for over a hundred years. It’s like walking into another era when you pass through the front gates of Kloof Street House’s restaurant and bar, up the steps and into the open doorway past the lovely glass-enclosed verandas on either side. 

Its newest owner and restaurateur Paul Hetreed tells us that before he bought the house in 2012, it was home to two fine dining restaurants, first the Manola and then the Opal Lounge.

Wanting to add warmth and character to the house’s austere spaces, as well as spruce up the outside area with its old palm trees, Paul teamed up with interior decorator Elrina Delport.

First they assembled all kinds of suppliers to spread their special magic with art, lighting, tiles, carpentry, paving and upholstery. Then Elrina sourced vintage furniture and objects, while Paul collected a variety of old suitcases from second hand and antique shops to make the fabulous bar counter he had in mind.

In the intimate lounge spaces, created in rooms all around the large main dining areas with their specially-made chandeliers, you’ll find grand Chesterfield couches, Tretchikoff and other vintage prints, as well as the odd antique birdcage on the walls lit by lamps trimmed with feathers and beads.

The house itself is also rich with history. Double volume spaces and dark corners tell stories of long ago. Imagine laughter and chatter when the house was owned by the Cape Technical College in 1950, the creative banter when it housed the Cape Council for Performing Arts in 1976, or how quiet the corridors were in 1990 – the Cape Medical Museum occupied it then.

In 1999 a Dutch Business School bought it, and rumour has it that the villa, between being a hotel and interior design studio at some point or another, was also a house of ill repute. Imagine.  

Today the revamped Kloof Street House restaurant and bar is filled with all kinds of new voices, from staff to customers. And, there’s the sound of live jazz permeating laid-back Sunday afternoons. How fabulous to relax on one of the grand Chesterfield couches and imagine those gentlemen in smoking jackets getting drinks at the bar, their companions smoking cigarettes in slender silver holders.

kloofstreethouse.co.za
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