Renovation Victorian and industrial elements in a Mother City abode
A dusty brown palette and decades-old finishes made way for a stylish blend of Victorian and industrial elements in this Mother City abode.
The large steel French doors on the north-facing side of the house lead out to the courtyard, while sunscreen roller blinds are barely visible once they’ve been rolled up. The impressive bookcase in the living room is Waldimar’s favourite piece of furniture: “I love being surrounded by books.” The upholstered chairs come from his father Pieter’s architectural practice. Wilhelm’s dad Willie made the riempie side table.
fair bit of audacity and idealism go a long way when tackling a major renovation, and even more so if your new home is still a construction site when you move in! Waldimar Pelser, editor of Rapport newspaper, and Wilhelm van der Hoven, who works in the financial industry, are in total agreement on that score.
In March 2017 they packed up their life in Johannesburg and, with two dogs in tow, moved to their new home in Cape Town – or, rather, to two bedrooms in what was at that stage a 10-day-old building project-in-progress with Waldimar’s twin sister Ingeborg as project manager.
To top it all, it was the first time Waldimar had set foot in the house. “My initial reaction when I was faced with the dilapidation was: ‘Well, we can probably make something of this’,” he recalls.
The major drawcard was the property’s central location and what Waldimar refers to as “spacious in urban terms”. It definitely wasn’t the dated finishes like the walls and carpets which they describe as “a blend of dusty brown and baby poo yellow” or the arched passageways linking poky rooms. But in among the worn fittings were a few gems, not least of which was the gorgeous wooden flooring they were able to rescue.
Together with Olaf, their Great Dane, and Anouk, a Weimaraner-Labrador cross, the pair lived and slept in the main bedroom (which at least had a working en-suite bathroom!) while their furniture was locked away in the guest bedroom. In the meantime, the hallway between the two bedrooms served as a temporary kitchen and they rented a storeroom for their prized artworks and important documents.
An architect friend assisted with finalising the plans – and soon a spacious and sociable open-plan home started to take shape amid the clouds of dust, noise and discomfort that go hand-in-hand with the demolishing of walls and stripping of finishes necessary to create a contemporary 21st century home.
The courtyard (above) with its herringbone brickwork is sheltered against Cape Town’s infamous South-Easter; Waldimar loves to sit and relax here with his newspapers and books on a Sunday morning. The pergola is covered by a wisteria and ornamental grape.
A dramatic difference
Breaking open a few smaller rooms – the kitchen, scullery, dining room and single bathroom – to create the spacious open-plan living room made a dramatic difference. This now forms about 75% of the home’s total surface area. “We replaced a small sliding door with a steel French door (2.8 x 3m) on the south-facing side of the dining room. Two more large steel doors were installed in the lounge,” explains Waldimar. “This created so much more light and afforded us a beautiful view. We love it.”
After three months, the couple eventually got some respite from the dust. “By the middle of June last year, the project was finally finished. There’s no way we could have done it without Ingeborg. She popped around every day to make sure things were running smoothly.”
Now they’re equally at home indoors or out in their elegant space. The locality couldn’t be more suited to their sporty, urban lifestyle. “Vredehoek is central with easy access to highways but it’s also unpretentious, like a village. We can see the CBD from our front stoep but our windows don’t look out onto other buildings, and the veld next door gives our back garden with its veggie patch a farm feel. Our back garden also has a lovely view of Table Mountain and everything is close by – from restaurants to beaches. This is precisely the lifestyle we were after.” >>
Waldimar and Wilhelm’s living space is masculine with an industrial aesthetic; it also features a modern interpretation of Victorian elements with new yet classic bathroom and kitchen fittings.
When asked about their décor choices, they’re quick to respond: “Choice is a strong word. The only item we bought new was our TV cabinet. Our style tends towards the eclectic because everything either comes from our previous homes or our parents’ homes; fortunately, we have the same taste. We had to get rid of a lot of stuff before we could move in here. It feels like a weight of clutter has been lifted off my shoulders,” says Waldimar.
“Our décor isn’t random; each piece is here for a reason, like the cowhide on the dining room floor which reminds us of the northern reaches of South Africa. We both still adore Johannesburg, hence all the upcountry elements in our aesthetic,” adds Waldimar with a touch
of nostalgia.
He admits that he’s “undoubtedly obsessive” about continuity, uniformity and attention to detail – something he probably learned at an early age from his architect dad, Pieter. “Actually, it all started with the black steel doors. This was our leitmotif and the inspiration behind all the other monochromatic elements – from the pure white wall in the hallway, the white wall tiles and black-and-white photographs to each and every item that’s either black or charcoal grey, including the built-in cupboards, pendant lamps, stove, headboard and bed linen; even the outdoor lighting and Wendy house!” >>
The en-suite bathroom (above left) and the guest bathroom (above) have a uniform Victorian feel with identical wall tiles, an element that was vital for Waldimar. The ceiling lamp is an original fitting. The guest bathroom adjacent to the guest bedroom is separated from the dining room by dry walling. Oregon floors were discovered beneath the wall-to-wall carpets in the main bedroom, guest bedroom and hallway (below).