Appearing in the renovations issue of House and Leisure in 2013, the magazine featured the project as a stylishly renovated holiday retreat in the Garden Route – perfectly suited its pristine natural surroundings.

This meticulous renovation project has resulted in the transformation of a once charmless, face-brick holiday house into a spacious, contemporary veranda home. For Kobus Nieuwoudt of Nieuwoudt Architects, there was plenty to work with in terms of environmental elements, making exceptional use of the homes existing location with excellent elevation, unspoilt sea views and mountain backdrop. The architects subtracted only what was absolutely necessary, opening up the ground floor interior to enhance its flow. Raw, stained wooden cladding is a recurring theme throughout the first-floor living area, providing a warm, neutral backdrop for elegantly comfortable furnishings with flashes of blue evocative of the sea.

The second storey required a covered patio to the master bedroom and a new, gently pitched roof. Inside the house, wood cladding on the walls and exposed trusses subtly echo the exterior forest environment. The ‘ocean room’ opens up to the dramatic scenery of its coastal surrounds, while a serene palette references the ocean and lagoon. The bathroom floors are stained, sealed local pine while the bright, white kitchen is cleverly concealed from the living areas by a high counter – revealing a striking combination of warm timber, frosted glass and slate-hued walls. Clad in timber, with a wraparound deck that extends the interior spaces to the great outdoors, it’s hard to imagine that this was previously a characterless face-brick house. With a relaxed holiday ambiance, it’s the ultimate escape for its Limpopo-based owners.