When the wintry winds begin to blow in the Yorkshire Dales, where Jonathan Reed and Graeme Black live in a meticulously restored and redesigned farmhouse surrounded by the green beauty of the English countryside, you can find the creative couple in the warmth of the Southern Hemisphere summer near Scarborough, South Africa, on the Cape Peninsula. The home is on the Southern Atlantic Ocean and is surrounded by the dramatic scenery of both the Baskloof Fynbos and the Cape Point nature reserves.
Reed offers a bit of poetry to describe their dual residency. “Baskloof House is a place to which we can retreat from the harsh winters of the north. We return to Yorkshire in April in time for the arrival of the lambs and the unfurling of spring.” Both men have also lived in Italy, and their work is international — Reed’s interior design practice takes him all over the world, and Black is preparing for Art Basel Miami Beach, where he will be exhibiting a collection of his tapestries in December 2026. This summer, the Thorns Gallery in Yorkshire will be showing Black’s oil paintings depicting the exuberance of the South African eucalyptus trees that surround their home.
Both Reed and Black are inspired by their natural surroundings. Reed shares, “South Africa has an extraordinary landscape, light and flora. Its historical buildings date from the 17th century onward and have their own particular mix of European influences and a rich seam of a practical and agricultural vernacular. Even the city houses somehow have the sense of a farmhouse.” Black expands on that, describing how the environment informs his art. “The incredible light in South Africa is a constant source of interest in my practice. For the past few years, I have been working with the most talented weavers, creating beautiful tapestries of my paintings.”
Baskloof House’s outdoor spaces are key to the couple’s life in the Cape. The garden was designed to become an extension of the surrounding environment, blending the boundary between house and hillside.
Black’s three decades in the fashion industry inform his practice. He notes, “One element of the fashion industry that I miss is the collaboration with other artisans. My life as an artist has circled back to the beautiful art of the woven world, which is surely one of the oldest forms of artistic expression.”
The compact home is reflective of its residents. Reed explains, “We both live in worlds where the creative process is at the root. A design is the result of a series of thousands of decisions that relate to place, feeling and practicality, and the result is never the same. There is no formula, no bending to trends, no obvious cliché. As a result, our homes always feel like places created over a long time and not just in a number of months.”
Baskloof House’s outdoor spaces are key to the couple’s life in the Cape. The garden was designed to become an extension of the surrounding environment, blending the boundary between house and hillside. The native plants used are the same as found on the mountain behind that forms part of the Baskloof Reserve. Since this is a summer home, outdoor entertaining is key. Reed describes, “We made an outdoor kitchen and dining area, and a stoep — a South African term for an outdoor covered living area. We mostly live outdoors, and we only retreat inside if there’s an onshore wind. The sea, being the South Atlantic, is freezing; hence the local penguin population!”
Interior photography by Warren Heath.
Portrait photography by Katinka Bester.
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