An eclectic Victorian home in South Africa

Posted on Sun, 30 Oct 2016 by KiM

When an interior designer in South Africa gets to finally purchase and design his own home, you know he’s going to go a little wild and push some boundaries. This 100+ year old Victorian in Robertson, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, is everything it should be, thanks to the talent and audacity of Etienne Hanekom. Bold, eclectic and fun. I absolutely love everything about this home (minus the mounted taxidermy), especially the mix of classic and modern, and dark colour palette. Via VISI, photos by Jac de Villiers. 

donna says:

Very cool place … but I agree that the taxidermy could go away. In fact, I've never understood the seemingly increased fascination with taxidermied stuff in décor. Maybe it's because my dad was a hunter and we grew up with "Henry" … the preserved head of one of his "kills". I'm over it!

Love your blog. You have the best content overall for me.

KiM says:

Thanks Donna! XOXO

xavier says:

Interesting home, love the colection of portraits in the second picture!

Holland says:

KIm, you rescue cats and express your wish the taxidermy here would be gone … so you have a heart for animals. So is it too much to ask that DtoI take a firm stand against displaying dead animal parts as decor? (At least the stuffed taxidermy — though I wouldn't have it, I know that leather, sheepskin and hide rugs are likely to remain.) Nobody would miss looking into the glass eyes of a dear cut down in his prime, and those of us who cringe would be relieved that your site presents more humane interiors.

Simmone says:

I agree with Holland, Kim. I'm surprised you are featuring this home. There is a lot of controversy around 'hunting' for sport in SA at the moment. It's not something I would imagine you would support, so I also encourage you to take a stand. It's the first thing I noticed about the house, and then I stopped looking!

KiM says:

I'm not going to get into it yet again, but I will simply say that I feature interiors here whether I agree with all of the decor choices or not.

Lucie says:

Thank you for sharing. It's really inspiring and interesting! I'm really found of the colours…

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