ARTS & CRAFTS
An interesting family home in Joburg has been lovingly filled with things quirky and cool by its creative Dutch owners
" Ihad sleepless nights until I knew that this house would be ours,” says Debby van der Veer. “I dreamed about it and had already furnished it in my head.”
When Debby, an illustrator and clothing designer, and her husband Evert, who is head of Comedy Central Africa, chose to make Joburg their home about two years ago, they searched high and low for the perfect place.
Take a step into their Beverley Gardens abode and it’s obvious what the attraction is: built in the ’70s in a gloriously Joburg hacienda style, its architecture lends it an anachronistic cool. “The house is rather peculiar, but that’s why we like it. It’s beautiful and practical,” says Debby.
The previous owner, an artist and ceramicist, added unusual touches in unexpected places, such as the teal tiling in the garden fountain. Inside, heavy wooden balustrades add a solid warmth. “Nothing has been renovated,” says Debby, “because we love the house as it is: a perfect mix of light and dark.”
Since moving in one year ago with their children, Minne and Moses, Debby and Evert have acquired only a few things locally. They include some black-andwhite Nigerian photographs, bought in Kramerville. Evert was born in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) and African arts and crafts are close to his heart. A recycled plastic aeroplane, bought at a traffic light, blows in a tree in the garden, and a huge wooden crocodile guards the entrance to the house.
Inside, items of value – such as an Eames chair – sit comfortably next to Ikea furniture. “We’re not highbrow or elite,” says Evert. Most of their belongings and furniture travelled with them from Amsterdam, as did their Dutch shepherd dog, Inti.
“The decor is a combination of both our tastes,” says Evert. In the living room, a large Helmut Newton photographic print of naked women, called
They’re Coming, surveys the space. Above the cosy fireplace hangs a stuffed taxidermy deer head from Debby’s brother, and a lovely silver Arco lamp curves behind the leather couch framing the window. “We bought it from the previous owner,” says Evert, who undeniably has an eye for cool design – the Philippe Starck gun lamp is a cherished piece bought with his first-ever bonus.
Knick-knacks picked up on travels populate the shelves: woodcarvings from the Congo; a vinyl collection and record player; a statue of a dodo from Mauritius (“It makes me laugh,” says Evert); tin robots; an Ericson phone from the ’60s; a bust of Aphrodite from Greece; and stacks of art-inspired books. A beautiful statue of Jesus comes from Rotterdam, and the Thai pillow resting on the floor is from a Bangkok market.
Debby found the tin desk drawers on the street and the stuffed fox in the dining room was discovered at a Belgian flea market. In the main bedroom, a commanding lamp with an ornate retro shade resides on a dressing table from the ’50s that belonged to Debby’s grandmother. “In a fire, I’d take my computer and that lamp,” says Debby.
The studio is Debby’s kingdom, where she is busy designing her fashion label, Blandat (meaning “blended”), which takes her unique design motifs into fashion.
Collections of precious items echo the sentiment of mixing various ideas: her grandmother’s porcelain ballerina from Austria, another Congolese carving and some of Debby’s intricate illustrations.
Debby and Evert picked South Africa from a myriad places where they could have lived. “We love the outdoor life here,” says Debby, “the spiders, the splashing in the pool and even my son breaking his arm now that he climbs trees.”
The spaciousness is a luxury rarely afforded in Europe. “Our garden in Holland was smaller than our pool here,” says Debby.
And in this house, the outside is everywhere. The three courtyards mean that they can see their kids playing wherever they are. In one of those courtyards, a Frans Hals print hangs incongruously above a flowerbed – it’s damaged and the colours are a bit muted.
But as this couple understands, much like life in this country there is much pleasure to be taken in its beautiful, flawed, sun-faded imperfection. • comedycentralafrica.com • blandat-studio.com