The home we are featuring this week
Couturier Vesselina Pentcheva’s home in Parktown North is a celebration of family heritage, colour and eclectic style
(see Page 4) can be described as “fashionable” on at least two levels. Firstly, it’s the gorgeous creation of its owner, Vesselina Pentcheva, who is one of Joburg’s top couturiers. It’s also a heritage-driven house, with some quirky boho influences, a few unashamedly opulent touches and a joyful, all-embracing approach to colour and texture. But this second point should not be mistaken for a suggestion that this is a “fashionable” look per se. Rather, this home is very much on trend in that it is a unique expression of who its owner is – something that we treasure at Home Weekly, and one of the reasons why we feature such a diverse mix of houses on our pages. What does your space say about you?
“There’s enough darkness in the world. For me, it’s about happiness and lightness,” says designer Vesselina Pentcheva. Sought after for her ethereal, fairytale wedding dresses, this philosophy holds true for Vesselina’s Johannesburg home as well as in her boho-influenced designs – her entire house mirrors her creative outlook, from its chic red-striped gate to its contrastingly hued rooms. Hailing from Russe, in Bulgaria, Vesselina says she feels privileged to live in what she describes as “one of the most beautiful, vibrant and energetic cities in Africa”.
An adventurous spirit and a unique eclecticism permeate the interior of the home. “My living space reflects my love of old-world aesthetics, history, craftsmanship and heritage,” says Vesselina. But of course the house, in which she and her family have lived for 14 years, is “not a showpiece, it’s a home”. It was built in 1941, and Vesselina wanted to buy it as soon as she saw the view of the garden from the veranda. “We didn’t even notice the rest of it,” she says.
The TV room is a family hangout for Vesselina, her husband, Rivak, and their daughters, Bella and Milla. A portrait of Vesselina’s stepdaughter, Brittany, hangs on the wall. “More is more” is very much the family’s design philosophy. It’s a notion that also applies to entertaining – Vesselina’s 16 nieces and nephews frequently arrive for get-togethers here.
As we walk through the house, Vesselina puts a vinyl record by the Lumineers on to play on the old-school Crosley record player and explains that the painted portrait in the lounge (by Pamela Prendini) is of the fortune-teller who predicted that she and Rivak would marry.
Many of the interesting objects in the house were acquired from antique shops and from Dima Rees, a friend and interior designer. The deep-scarlet couch and a chair made from a vintage suitcase (by Katie Thompson of Recreate) are both seriously eye-catching pieces. An unusual etching by Bevan Jordan de Wet, featuring a girl depicted as a tree, is a favourite artwork. “I know what I like and I’m very impulsive,” says Vesselina. “If I like it, I buy it right away.” Hence the gorgeous floral rug from Paco Rugs in the home-office space, which also features opulent curtains made by Vesselina herself – she stitched them together from swatches in a fabric book.
The magnificent French oak table in the dining room is from Pierre Cronje, while a wall of family photos marks the entrance to the open-plan kitchen. “My favourite is of my great-grandmother as a toddler, taken in 1907,” says Vesselina. Symbolising life, the intricate spiral mosaic splashback behind the stove was done by Dish. And animal-print trays on the walls, bought from Life, are an eccentric touch.
On the way up the original staircase, the designer points out a framed poster for Rivak
the Rebel, the 1960 film starring Jack Palance, after which her husband was named. In the main bedroom, the unusual vintage tapestry chair perfectly matches the walls, which are painted a soothing aqua green. “I often change the wall colours,” says Vesselina.
The perlemoen-shell mirror was made by Reinette Katzoff of Shell works; Vesselina’s grandmother knitted the crocheted blanket. “It goes everywhere with me,” says Vesselina, who has many tapestries and paintings from her grandparents and greatgrandparents in the room.
“My husband teases me about being like an old lady,” she says, “but I like being surrounded by things that remind me of my heritage.”
Outside, a regal syringa tree presides over what Vesselina calls “the sparkliest pool in the suburb”. (And she may well be right.) It’s easy to imagine how lovely her upcoming 40th birthday celebrations, set to take place in the romantic, piazza-like garden, will be.
I bid farewell armed with a bunch of purple Bulgarian geraniums (called zdravetz, I discover, and said to represent robust health). The plant from which they have been picked was brought here from Vesselina’s grandmother’s garden in Bulgaria. Yes, we could all do with a sprinkling of Vesselina’s free-spirited inspiration in our lives.