It may be mainly the complaint of folks who find the world whirling too quickly, but there is some truth to the fact that these days, the stuff of the past is more often jettisoned than cherished. Nobody wants Grandma’s dishes, or Dad’s old desk. And when family history can be neatly contained digitally, an attic full of stuff seems unnecessary, if not excessive. But in the right hands, the past can be a living thing, a light that illuminates the present, not a burdensome shadow.
South Africans Illze and Wouter Muller – and their three grown children – live on a dairy farm that has been in his family since the 1820s. Their home is a classic Cape Dutch farmhouse, built by the brother of Wouter’s great-grandfather in 1840. “I love Cape Dutch architecture for its clean lines and unpretentious style, as well as for the symmetry and the simplicity,” shares Illze, who good-humoredly describes herself as “a housewife who fixes up sheds on the farm when I’m not gardening or dreaming up new designs.”
Dreaming up one of those new designs, Illze spearheaded a transformation of the family home from a place of formality and small rooms to one that is chic and spacious. She relocated the kitchen from the back of the house to a larger, crowd-friendly area closer to the action. “This is now everyone’s favorite room,” confides Illze, “where we spend most of our time talking, cooking and having a great time with our friends.” The reconfiguration also allowed for a greater separation between the home’s public and private spaces. Upstairs, she opened up an unused attic space, greatly expanding the usefulness of that floor, which now comprises a study, office and guest room with en suite bath. With no partition walls and the timber frame and thatched roof visible, this wide-open interior telegraphs an elemental sense of shelter.
Throughout the project, Illze was determined to respect the historical character of the house while making it functionally and aesthetically more congruent with contemporary life. Eager to create a closer link to the garden, she replaced three windows on the main floor with doors of the same size, which maintained the visual balance of the exterior. Illze exercised that same combination of imagination and respect for the past when she tackled an 1850s outbuilding that had previously served as a workshop and shearing shed. “It was one very long, big room, with attics at both ends, when it was built,” relates Illze. “Later, walls were added and a ceiling was put in. For the renovation, we took away all those things that were not original.” Window openings that had been covered over long ago were reopened and fitted with new, handmade frames. “Every hinge, lock, bolt, window and door that had to be replaced was made by hand, using reclaimed materials as much as possible,” notes Illze.
Change comes slowly on a farm, and now that Illze has transformed her family’s property so effectively and empathetically, chances are it won’t require much attention for a while. But when that day arrives, the design she dreamed up today will no doubt be appreciated as another telling layer of the farm and the history of the lives lived here.
Photography by Karl Rogers.
For more like this Cape Dutch farmhouse, be sure to check out this historic Cape Town home.
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