Artistic Expression
This reinvigorated late modernist home at the foot of Table Mountain has become an ever-evolving personal exhibition space for its gallerist owners and their young family.
Words Graham Wood Photography Elsa Young
Candace and William Marshall-Smith decided to renovate their Cape Town home while Candace was still energised after the renovation of her fine art gallery, SMITH, in the historic city centre.
Not long after moving from Johannesburg to Cape Town with their young family, Candace and William found a house in a wonderful spot in Oranjezicht in Cape Town’s City Bowl. The house itself was a reasonably unremarkable 1970s double-storey. “It looked like a school building,” laughs Candace, “but it had a wonderful sense of space, which is rare in Cape Town. It had incredible views of the city and Lion’s Head to one side, and it’s right at the foot of Table Mountain.”
A terraced rocky garden with a beautiful stone staircase seems to bring the mountain right down to the edge of the house, giving it a strong presence and sense of place. Yet, somehow, it’s potential had been overlooked, perhaps because of its inelegant architecture. But the position and 360-degree views were enough for Candace and William.
“I just remember being astonished at the views,” says Candace. Also, the couple could see potential in some of the house’s late mid-century features.
Nevertheless, she and William didn’t renovate immediately. “We lived in it for three years,” she says. “We had time to consider what we wanted to do.”
Besides, Candace was rather taken up with the launch of her gallery in a beautiful, idiosyncratic heritage building in the historic city centre. After the success of that project, however, she was ready for another challenge and decided to renovate.
“I was excited to start the project,” she says, adding that they’d decided to have a third child, so she finally knew how many bedrooms to plan for.
She and William worked with architects Stuart Thompson and Matt Pretorius of STARC to convert the existing house into the mid-century dream Candace had been nurturing in her imagination. They managed a remarkable alteration, retaining many of the late modernist features Candace and William had grown fond of, such as the fireplace, the stairway with its glazed façade on the southern side of the house, which let in views of the mountain and lovely soft natural light.
“I had quite a specific vision for the interiors,” says Candace, who was keen to pick up on the mid-century cues in the architecture. “I’m a huge fan of furniture that is functional,” she says. “And I love furniture that is fitted.” Built-in window seats and daybeds have been worked into the bedrooms and study. For the rest, Candace worked with interior designer and stylist Christine Joubert, who helped bring together a combination of new and vintage furniture pieces to complement their existing collected furnishings and, of course, the art.
Candace values the sense of time that a collector’s sensibility brings to a home, rather than everything looking like “it had all been acquired at once”. The sense of an easy-going, evolving interior was exactly what she was after. Restored modernist pieces picked up at auctions rub shoulders with contemporary modernist-inspired works by the likes of James Mudge, setting up a lovely sense of dialogue between past and present.
Perhaps inevitably, the house has become something of a gallery in its own right. Candace laments the lack of wall space in many extensively glazed contemporary homes, something she was careful to retain during her renovation, balancing the spectacular views with space for art and everyday life. Apart from the southern façade, Candace points out, “The views are carefully framed and quite subtle. A lot of houses only maximise the views, which is not always the best solution.” The result is a much more thoughtful relationship with the home’s beautiful setting.
While she does have a few heirloom artworks and has picked up some twentieth-century modernist pieces by the likes of Walter Battiss, the majority of Candace and William’s collection is contemporary local art.
“I really like how contemporary art is pushing the boundaries with medium,” she says. “I love conceptual art.” So, while the architecture and furnishings might hearken back to the twentieth-century, the art is up-to-the-minute. “We have a lot of art from artists I work with at the gallery,” Candace confirms.
It’s a lovely expression of her belief in the artists she represents, but also brings a wonderful sense of life to the house. With its beautiful light and ample wall space – little nooks as well as large expanses like the stairwell, it really does flatter art as much as life!
