House Kleynhans, Waverley, Bloemfontein (1989-1990)

This house is reached via a pan-handle from Wilcox Road in Waverley, was the first house we did as well as the first house published in a magazine. Jan was still in the army and his god-parents commissioned him to design their retirement house. Due to the layout of the site and the position of the driveway, one approaches the house with the garages straight in front of one. From here the entrance collonade reaches towards one to invite you into the house. One can still see the subtle elements hinting at the Post-Modern era (sandstone plinth, bay window in the gable end, etc.). The huge elm tree needed to be accommodated and was allowed to keep on growing through the roof. the thin subdivided erf forced the planning into a corridor house, but this was turned into an opportunity to allow light in from above and introduce a curved wall below.