Synopsis
‘We’ve always dreamed of living in a minimalist, contemporary home,’ say Irene-based engineers Philippus and Reani Fouché. After moving out of their ‘very traditional’ house in Waterkloof the couple grabbed the chance to realise their ambition: a sleek, ascetic barn that turns country living on its head. In keeping with its rustic surrounds, the design guidelines for Irene development Southdowns Estate might require adhering to an agricultural vernacular but the couple sought to balance it ‘with a very modern design’, says Philippus. After finding that typical Swedish barn architecture perfectly fitted their vision, they approached Mathews and Associates Architects in Pretoria with a brief to create a Scandinavian farmhouse. With two engineers checking up on the build every day it was never going to be a slapdash project, and the house took two years to complete. ‘The design phase itself took about a year,’ says Philippus. ‘We kept paring down the original proposal until we had a truly minimalist design.’
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