Future perfect
rom the rooftop of trendsetting hairstylist Candice Wyatt’s apartment in Milpark Refinery, looking over the gold planters filled with herbs, succulents and spinach, there are views of Johannesburg in all directions. They take in the Melville Koppies on one side, a sandstone ridge on the other and the suburbs and city between. At night you can see the light shining from Constitution Hill and in late spring the huge urban “forest” that is Joburg becomes a sea of purple when the jacarandas bloom. “This balcony is the nicest place when there is the call to mosque,” says Candice. “You get this amazing echo, and it’s really beautiful.
“And I can see my salon as well,” she adds. Candice specialises in creating the international hairstyling trends that we see seasons later. She travels often to teach these trends to hairstylists around the world for catwalks and clients. But she loves coming home to Joburg and its unexpected moments of beauty. “I call myself a Jozi patriot,” she says.
The rejuvenated industrial hub of Milpark, with its close-knit creative community, galleries, restaurants and bars, struck a chord with her when she returned after a few years living in Cape Town. “In my first few weeks back in Joburg, I did a shoot in the apartment next door,” she says. “By the lunch break, I had realised I had to live here.”
Most of the apartments, studios and offices in the area are converted industrial spaces with large volumes, warehouse windows, exposed brick, steel beams and open-plan spaces. Candice’s living space is spread over three levels – each slightly smaller than the one before so it has a triple-volume central space – culminating in the rooftop balcony. The living room, dining room and kitchen area share the first floor with a guest room. The main bedroom takes up the second level, and on top, up in the rafters, is a library and office space.
The largely monochrome palette throughout her apartment had its origins in the bachelor pad that preceded Candice’s occupation. Her countermeasure was to lighten up what she could and add pops of primary colour. No green, however. “Kandinsky didn’t like green,” she says. “He said it was an overbearing colour.” She also admits to a deep fondness for gold.
Candice also adores mid-century modern design and aesthetics. “They’re probably the pieces I’m most proud of,” she says, gesturing at the pair of Marcel Breuer Wassily chairs. “I spent five hours in the Bauhaus archive,” she adds. “It usually takes people 50 minutes.” Her apartment also features a Le Corbusier chaise longue here and an Eero Aarnio Bubble chair there.
She may have a soft spot for modernism, but Candice is no minimalist. “I don’t know what I am,” she says. “Maybe a hoarder; a neat hoarder.” The classic pieces are liberally mixed in with vintage items she’s collected from some of the excellent furniture and design dealers in the area, and contemporary South African design, particularly from Joe Paine and Dokter and Misses, who also designed Candice’s salon. (She admits her furnishings have been dictated largely by what’s on her doorstep, “because I never leave the area”, she jokes. Candice seldom drives anywhere, preferring her gold powder-coated bicycle when she has to venture farther afield.)
“I love little things that have a story,” she says. Her drinks trolley bears a plaque with an inscription dated 1947 – it was originally someone’s wedding gift. Other items, she insists, she chose just because she likes them. The dining chairs are from Mr Price Home “10 years ago”, she guesses. “Every single piece I have in my house, I have because I like it, not because it’s from a particular designer or because it’s in vogue,” she says.
The apartment’s large spaces, industrial bones and abundant light resolve the eclectic mix beautifully. Despite Candice’s profession as a trendsetter, this apartment is more about influence and inspiration than fashion. And most of all it’s a home that reflects its owner’s vibrant interests: undeniably of its time, but seemingly beyond trend.