Oggie Flooring: A Blissful Home on the Kromme River

Life on a river is all about a connection to nature and a welcome escape from city life. The same is true within this blissful residence located on the Kromme River estuary that flows into the warm Indian ocean. Architect: Bert Pepler Interior: GDF Designs

A combination of fisherman’s cottage and Cape farm architecture vernacular provided a reference point for the project, which has beautiful hand chiselled wooden floors by none other than Oggie Flooring.

A summer escape

The house has been conceptualized as a summer retreat for a family living in London. The long and narrow, 3330m2 site is thus positioned in an older part of the village, stretching from the street to the river.

Flanked on both sides by neighbouring properties, the site faces north with a south entry approach. The adjoining house, set among established trees and indigenous vegetation is one of the original St Francis Bay bungalows.

Here, it is all about the connection to the great outdoors. Beautiful open plan spaces connect the interior to the landscape just beyond the walls. Gorgeous wooden floors create a seamless flow and add to the harmonious feel of the entire residence.

Connecting land and water

The original house was positioned at the rear of the site. This was once devoid of the endemic landscape and was demolished to make way for a fresh new approach.

The overriding design concept was therefore to use architectural elements to make the connection from the land to the water. Linear, finger-like forms extend from the street. This thereby guides one from the approach through the house, to the living areas and external terraces beyond.

In contrast to the linearity of the forms, three large sculptural chimneys anchor the house. Furthermore, this provides the verticality required to balance the composition. Magnificent vistas of the river are viewed over the indigenous garden, which extends down to merge with the river grasses on the beach.

Beautiful inside and out, the home boasts a modern streamlined look. Wood and natural design elements tie the design together. Furthermore, this continually hints at that idyllic indoor-outdoor lifestyle. Oggie’s European Oak was thus selected for this home, from the Ande Irregular Hand-Scraped Range in the colour Greymist.