{"id":12475,"date":"2022-06-23T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-23T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=31110"},"modified":"2022-06-23T09:46:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T07:46:11","slug":"a-vibrant-eccentric-home-in-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-vibrant-eccentric-home-in-cape-town\/","title":{"rendered":"A vibrant, eccentric home in Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Christianne Raymer\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 23 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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As soon as she opens the front door of her graceful home in the Cape Town suburbs, Margaret Woermann is joined on either side by two large dogs \u2013 Lenghi and Lunah, her constant companions. The words \u2018eccentric\u2019 and \u2018bohemian\u2019 immediately spring to mind.<\/p>\n

Margaret, who has lived in the house for over two decades, was born and raised in a rural farming community to a German immigrant family. Later, thanks to a strong artistic ability, a series of fortuitous twists and turns, a discerning eye and unrelenting determination, she went on to establish herself as one of the best-known names in the South African design world. She is now the owner of craft collective Heartworks, as well as being an acclaimed ceramicist.<\/p>\n

The decor in her home, which dates from 1904, is influenced by her formative years on the farm: from several heavy pieces of inherited antique furniture<\/a> and a collection of paintings by an artist uncle, to the dense garden that surrounds and shields the entire house.<\/p>\n

Many elements here also hint at the austerity of her childhood: wooden floors left deliberately unadorned; walls she has painted herself; a thrifty assortment of furniture and paintings found at second-hand shops, auctions<\/a> and given to her by friends; mix-and-match vintage<\/a> crockery in utilitarian kitchen cupboards and textures that err on the side of humble and organic.<\/p>\n

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The characterful house features pressed tin ceilings, spacious rooms and restored sash windows that allow the light to pour in. These details are the perfect foil for Margaret\u2019s collection of African art<\/a>, craft and found ephemera that she has built up over a lifetime. It is also the backdrop to the pieces she has made herself. And while each room is quite different, they are all defined and therefore connected by Margaret\u2019s talent for arrangement. \u2018It feels a bit odd to me when people use the word \u2018curated\u2019 for how the house looks,\u2019 says Margaret. \u2018Really, I think it\u2019s quite haphazard. It\u2019s just evolved and become fuller the longer I\u2019ve lived here,\u2019 she explains.<\/p>\n

She could be viewed as something of a cultural anthropologist, when you consider this impressive assembly of craft and her profound knowledge of each and every maker. Her collection\u2019s roots extend to South Africa and neighbouring Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (Swaziland), Mozambique and Botswana to further afield in Central, West and East Africa.<\/p>\n

However, she wouldn\u2019t call herself an anthropologist, she says: \u2018but I do feel connected to this art because it\u2019s what I was exposed to as a child and later in my youth when I travelled in Africa. The rural art of the street and things made by hand with natural, recycled and utilitarian materials, which is so distinctive to craft, has always attracted me. Craft has such a life and vibrancy, it\u2019s so unique and authentic to its maker. How can you not have a respect for and curiosity about that?\u2019<\/p>\n

Margaret\u2019s position in the design industry gives her the opportunity to spot work by emerging talents, as well as supporting South Africa\u2019s more established artists. The art that fills her home is dynamic and fresh, adding another layer to the eclectic tapestry of the interiors.<\/p>\n

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Textiles are another passion, and Margaret\u2019s extensive collection clearly demonstrates her love of pattern and vibrant colour. And the way she has displayed these pieces is testament to her personal aesthetic and her endless creativity. Walls are hung with indigenous hand-embroidered tapestries and tribal blankets; in the bedrooms, graphic rugs soften the bare floorboards, while beds are covered with cushions and throws<\/a> made from richly patterned traditional wax cloth.<\/p>\n

And then there is her own art: captivating, large-scale pressed flower artworks<\/a>; mixed-media installation pieces made from items such as clay, broken porcelain and flea-market bric-a-brac; and surface after surface filled with extraordinary pottery. There\u2019s a series of bright yellow figurines and trophies, plus her latest fantastical vessels with curvaceous shapes and exquisite glazes in shades of sea blue and green.<\/p>\n

Filled as it is with lovely things, her home is no museum or hallowed shrine. There is the constant patter of dog paws on the wooden floors, the buzz of nature from the garden, the ebb and flow of those with whom Margaret shares her space: various artists, guests and family members, including children whose delighted shouts ring out as they discover new hide-and-seek opportunities. \u2018It\u2019s a very big house,\u2019 she says. \u2018I don\u2019t remember when last I was alone here. At the moment, I have two artists who work and live in the garden studios, my sister and a visitor from Europe who comes to Cape Town annually.\u2019<\/p>\n

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