 Contact Artefacts | MenuHomeUpfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon | House Cuff Hubert Francis CUFF: Design Architect THOMASHOFF + PARTNER ARCHITECTS: Architect 2014 Renovations |  | ||||||
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| Architect's House, Waterkloof, Pretoria This residence was designed by Mr. H. Cuff, a member of the staff of Messrs. Bosman and Neethling for himself. Situated in an extension of Waterkloof Ridge, it has strong indigenous influences in the use of materials and of informal planning. Approached from the road above, the impression is of an harmonious blending of material and colour built into a hillside and fitting into the contours of rolling hills and valleys, dotted with wattle plantations and to a great extent still unspoilt by development. All visible materials from the street are rough reject type bricks, used for the garden walls which ramble informally across the full width of the site. The view through the door into the entrance courtyard continues this feeling of informality. This courtyard is extensively planted and informally levelled and terraced with rockeries and paved areas. The feeling of unsophisticated finishes is carried through into the house where all level areas have quarry tile floors, stone or rough brick walls, occasionally white-washed, and with a lean-to type roof construction built up of gum poles as rafters, split poles over as a ceiling, and over which is fixed corrugated asbestos without gutters and downpipes. The eaves also have no fascia-boards. The three sections of the building, main house, out-buildings and music room/workshop, are all linked with garden walls built in such a manner as to create sun-traps or cool shaded areas, as the case may be. The main living room terrace between the music room and the house is so situated as to make full use of broad vistas across the rolling lawns and swimming pool. The bedroom wing makes use of sliding glass windows and shutters, thus eliminating the use of burglar proofing. In this area also the floors are in quarry tiles with white-washed walls and split pole and gum pole type ceilings. All bedroom cupboards are in tongued and grooved boarding. It is interesting to note that the dining room floor comes from one of Pretoria’s old homesteads and is of mosaic tiles originally of Dutch origin. This house was largely owner-built and the final cost, including swimming pool and garden development, was £3,150 [R6,300]. (ARCHITECT and BUILDER. January, 1959) The house was renovated by THOMASHOFF + PARTNER ARCHITECTS in 2014. Karlien THOMASHOFF writes: "It was a very beautiful house, but in a terrible condition. My clients bought the house from Hubie's ex wife. "We replaced the asbestos roof with fiber cement, added a new bathroom, security gates, garage, replaced the kitchen, added a poolhouse, but kept the ceilings and floors. The original floors were tiled directly on compacted soil - not a crack in sight." Photographs by Theresa-Anne Mackintosh and Karlien Thomashoff. |
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