The Provencal-style Lion’s Head Villa is located close to central Cape Town on the steep slopes of Fresnaye, along the Atlantic Seaboard.
Graciously emerging from the ankles of the mountain – overlooking the tiered terrain of the Atlantic Seaboard beneath and all the way out across the ocean – Lions Head Villa wilfully whisks you away to the Mediterranean with its Provençal charm, yet simultaneously settles you into the stillness of the African soil it harnesses itself upon.
Set on four levels of dual dwellings – two individual maisonettes that can either be independent or interlinked with each other – this unique holiday home masters the marriage of classical with contemporary and innovation with imitation. The grandeur of its Cape Georgian bones blend seamlessly with the rustic, à la mode environment it inhabits.
An abundance of North-facing light permeates every space of this self-catering luxury accommodation, bouncing off the Egyptian limestone surfaces and elevating the repurposed French-oak beams of the ceilings.
From the three luxury ensuite bedrooms in each maisonette, the lavish living and dining spaces, the colossal country-style kitchens – with their venerable French copper-ware, appliances, battered enamel ware, crockery and cabinetry (a lion’s share of which was sourced in Saint-Tropez) – to the libraries, the refined linen and leather furnishings with Vicuña wool throws and Ralph Lauren fabrics, the dark mahogany bar, the long veranda and patios aplenty.
All embellished by the intimate hues and scents of candles flickering adjacent antique collectables and signature pieces of art, alongside the owner’s great-grandmother’s art collection that hangs with intent in significant spaces. An ongoing sentiment of the villa’s celebrated heritage and a tribute to an artist who’s pieces of work also occupy space in the National Portrait Gallery in London, as well as notable aristocratic homes around the world.
A refined hideaway that celebrates creativity
As you venture out into the terraced garden that’s crowned with its captivating view of the ocean, the Mediterranean mood resumes with pencil Cypresses flanking the boundary walls, olive trees emerging from exposed stone with rows of lavender, rose bushes, flourishing herbs and hedges. Sunbirds and starlings dip in and out of the trickling water feature echoing pacifying tones of a medieval Provençal quarter.
When you’re not beside one of the three glorious swimming pools, languidly lapping up the rays and quenching an afternoon’s thirst for pink gin, you’ll be gathered around the wooden tables – some on the long veranda with its open outdoor fire place and tranquil lounging space, and some under the reed pergola, barefoot upon the beach sand, beside the pizza oven, looking up to the lion and its rump and all the way out over the treetops to infinity and beyond.
It is all of these characteristics of this multifaceted private holiday home to rent that carry you on a cosmopolitan journey, yet cradle you in the bosom of the Mother City at the same time. Its art inspires, its ambience pacifies, its views invigorate and its soul is the owners’ stamp, revealing what life can be like when we do it all again with vigour.
Reviewed by Colleen Ogilvie