Jenny Mills Architecture: A Contemporary Fresnaye Villa

This Fresnaye villa is 1400 square metres of carefully designed luxury living – a 4-bedroom home with separate housekeeper’s suite, cinema room, wine cellar and gym designed by Jenny Mills Architecture.

A broadly collaborative design team ran a series of design workshops to define the specifications that would make this landmark home rank with the very best luxury residences Cape Town has to offer; a fully-automated house which feels easy and can be used intuitively, and which combines the best technology and systems.

Despite the overall size of the house, there is a good balance of privacy and connectedness. The double volume stairway looks onto the entry courtyard, the core of the house. A splayed skylight feature brings in reflected light which bounces off the angled planes.

The kitchen is well appointed and versatile. It can function as a “family” at-home cooking experience, or be closed off for formal catering with large sliding doors.

JMA worked closely with the interior designer to create a feeling of calm and warmth. Timber floors, paneling and cabinetry offset the calm, pale walls and marble floors. A few expertly selected fittings and finishes express the classic modernism of the house.

It is set on a comfortable level lawn with a north west aspect in this wind-free corner of Fresnaye. A striking L-shaped pool gives way to views of the sea and twinkling city lights. The greenery of the Lions Head backdrop is emphasised by careful perimeter planting; the sense of being surrounded by greenery to create a private sanctuary feel is important to the design team, so the “Green Wall” in the double volume entry is always visible through the house.

Deborah Parkington (Studio Parkington) worked in collaboration with JMA on the interior design for this project.

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