To enter the front door of Maison Noir one first traverses a wooden boardwalk straddling two ponds filled with koi…and a sense of ease begins to permeate. There is an open-sided verandah in front of you as you step inside, a space which immediately brings to mind the words ‘yoga’ and ‘meditation’. You hang left into the vast, beautiful living area, dominated by a high-pitched roof which looks out over the pool to the garden and the indigenous fynbos beyond.
The house is, in fact, laid out as a collection of A-frame buildings masquerading as ‘huts’ clustered alongside one another as though they were part of a traditional, rural African village. They’re distinguished by a variety of heights and volumes, staggered footprints and, most of all, by a dark tone of paint that’s not only chic and practical, but that also hints at the mud brick-built homesteads of central Africa. A high wall encircles the ‘village’ – just as the kraal wall, in any part of the continent, would a remote village, designed to keep the cattle in at night and wild animals out. But this is Hout Bay, on the south side of the Cape Peninsula, and we’re only 30 minutes’ from the centre of Cape Town. Think of Maison Noir as a private village where the kraal wall provides privacy and roots the houses in its physical context on an awkward slope way above the Hout Bay Valley.
To understand architect Paolo Deliperi’s vision, you’d have to climb the steep, wooded incline behind the house so that you can look down onto it huddled in the embrace not just of the encircling wall but of a series of terraces that fall away to the valley below. And while the seamless arrangement of interconnecting indoor-outdoor spaces and a series of serene pools of water offers something of the East, this sense evaporates when you realise that the site, surrounded by no fewer than four magnificent peaks of the mountains that give the Cape Peninsula its character, is rugged and dramatic and, well, African. To the north, and visible from the pool, is the flat-topped back of Table Mountain – an unusual view that’s normally the exclusive preserve of mountain climbers.
What we love…
- The sense of luxurious seclusion and remoteness – even though Maison Noir is just 30 minutes’ from the city centre.
- The great flow of the indoor-outdoor spaces.
- This home is very, very spacious and profoundly private.
- Maison Noir is just a few minutes’ drive from great beaches, restaurants, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and the wine estates of Constantia.
- The beautiful swimming pool, entertainment areas, private cinema and stocked wine cellar for when we want to relax and cocoon at home.
What you need to know…
- There are two large, master suites with lovely lounge areas.
- Three of the bedrooms feature additional loft accommodation – ideal for kids.
- Maison Noir is unaffected by the water shortages because we have a borehole, however we do ask guests to be mindful of their usage.
- Maison Noir has a second hideaway, Villa Verte, with four en suite bedrooms. Click here for more details.
