A bespoke family home designed to maximize views and orientation on a riverfront stand, in a farm estate in Gauteng.
2020, Monaghan Estate, Lanseria, Johannesburg, South Africa Area: 415m² Project Team: Nadine Clarke, Deandra Farinha
Located on a West facing riverfront stand, sloping down towards the water’s edge, this contemporary farmhouse was inspired by the traditional Karoo stone-house typology. Through consideration of both traditional and contemporary styles, the decision was made to juxtapose rather than combine. This is achieved through definition of heavy and light elements, heavy being represented by stonework cladding, and light expressed through steel elements.
The result, a traditional monolithic stone-clad barn, intersected by a contemporary, steel framed Entrance serving to separate Bedroom and Living wings. Spaces are arranged in a linear fashion, with all Living and Bedroom spaces facing North and East, and service spaces placed to the South and West. The main dwelling is shielded from the road edge by a steel clad garage and storage area, creating privacy. Larger forms are separated by planted courtyards to soften the weightiness of deep stone walls, and tie in outdoor connection, with the pool area removed from immediate home-vicinity creating a separate experience of place.
Additional light-weight steel items, such as pergolas and window liners elevate the traditional look and feel, whilst defining external accommodation, such as a large Covered Patio, being an extension of the open plan living spaces contained within.
Stonehouse is on a north-facing river stand situated in a residential estate.
And from the onset, the brief called for quality over quantity.
The couple had returned to South Africa after a stint abroad and were keen to build a home
for their young family.
While the form of the house is that of a traditional shed or barn-style house, the entrance was
purposefully a contrast to that, in that it was a very square, rectangular, contemporary
opening.
The opening served to differentiate the private and more public side, or the living rooms
in the house.
In addition, the lobby is the only really grand space in the house, but really serves
to amplify the view, because that's really what the lobby is about.
The lobby is literally a box with glass on either side, so that when one enters the home,
you are confronted with the view.
Instilling values in their children was super important, and this resulted in a shared bathroom
for the kids.
The clients had grown up sharing a bathroom and believed that their children would learn
valuable lessons from sharing their bathrooms with their siblings.
Another interesting feature of the home is the reading nook.
The clients have instilled a love of reading in their children, and as such, the home features
a very intimate, cosy reading nook that doubles up as a study.
The homeowners elected to work with local artisans and local products as far as possible.
In addition, all the tiles in the home are handmade, in the bathroom and behind the fireplace,
and some of the decorative lighting is also from local artisans.
Much of the furniture in the home is also from local designers.
The house has a limited palette of materials.
In the utility, it's what we call a clay klonki, reminiscent of a really narrow traditional
brick from the Cape.
Lobby and patio are polished concrete with oak flooring throughout the rest of the house.
From the onset, the client loved the idea of traditional steel doors and windows.
Those were also made by local craftspeople.
Quite a labor of love to get them right, but every single door and window was handcrafted.
Rather than taking stone cladding from a quarry, the stone used on the house was walked out
of the felt by hand.
The design of the home was influenced by the client living in a stone-walled home in the UK.
Coming back to South Africa, South Africa has a rich heritage of stone houses in the
Karoo, and so that's really what inspired the design of the stone house.
So the stone house, the house, the entire house is clad in stone, but the entrance lobby
is punctured by a square, more contemporary element.
Most homes in South Africa have a large patio and a built-in bra.
And what I loved about this client is, again, the meticulous thought to detail in that they
wanted a large patio that could host extended family, a built-in bra.
So there's a boma to the side of the patio, and everybody can sit around and be part of
the ritual of making food.
The art buildings contrast to the house in that they were clad in corrugated iron.
And were very reminiscent of farm sheds or farm structures.
I love how these homeowners, and it is really a privilege to be involved in a project where
everything is just given so much thought.
And I think the reason for that is that the design of the stone house, the design of the
is because of the sustainable mindset that what we are doing is going to last us for
the rest of our lifetime until we move out of this home.
Nothing was superfluous that was going to be replaced.
Everything was thought of as being a long-term decision.
And it is really a privilege to be involved in a project where everything is just given
so much thought.
And I think the reason for that is because of we're going to love forever.
