House De Palme - Stellenbosch

Designed & delivered by Henk Marais

​

This Gentleman’s Estate is built on a 17500 square metre scenic smallholding just outside of Stellenbosch. It is the epitome of contemporary country living complete with its own vineyard, stables and paddocks. The 800 square metre house has been perfectly angled to  achieve optimum solar orientation and was designed to be a modernist masterpiece that houses not only 5 bedrooms, but also a working wine cellar. The structure exists of 3 major pavilions each with its own floating roof and is anchored around a triple storey staircase. 

​

The house plan is simple and crisp, with the wine cellar (including maturation cellar) in the coolest basement space. The main living spaces are situated on the ground level as well as two en-suite guest bedrooms, a four car garage and staff facilities. The first floor contains the luxurious master suite which enjoys panoramic views and two bedrooms, a communal family lounge which overlooks the double volume and a open-plan study. 

​

The home is easy on the eye and blends effortlessly into the landscape through its floating roofs, while at ground level it connects closely to the landscape by means of timber Balau decks and the natural stones which were sourced locally. The same earthy stone element is brought into the interior of the basement wine cellar where it adds visual mass to the solid walls which support a complex barrel vaulted brick roof. 

​

Client Feedback :

Team Connect was precise and professional during the whole duration of the project. The project took shorter than expected and Henk listened extremely well to the requirements to ensure that I was satisfied. The end result was great. My favourite part of the design is the timelessness and I wouldn’t change a thing.

​

Conrad

​