8 HOME WEEKLY 26 AUGUST 2012hou ses

GRANDE DA M E“A beautiful family home”? “A 110-year-old Westcliffm ansion”? This remarkable house defies easy description.Jonathan Cane is by turns inspired and delighted by thishome and its utterly stylish owner, Annabelle Desfontaines

text JONATHAN CANE production TIAAN NAGEL photography SARAH DE PINA

AN NA BE L L EDesfont aines’s family homeis a 110-year-old Westcliffbeauty. It’s a grandeight-bedroom mansionwith more fireplaces than

I can count, interleading drawing rooms andwood-panelled staircases. An old-Joburgoutpost high on a hill, the house sports viewsof a dilapidated old tennis court, ramblinggardens and the entire Johannesburg skyline.

Annabelle welcomes me at the door andwalks me around her home. We aresurrounded by dogs that bounce on and offprecious and expensive antique furnishings.

She introduces me to her sons and theirfriends, who are lounging on day beds inthe most anachronistic manner — ima ginethe Bloomsbury set in a Merchant Ivoryfilm set in the Jo’burg winter sun and that’spretty much the scene here.

I meet domestic workers who are settingfireplaces. They are also in the process oftaking down the whimsical tent that hangsfrom the ceiling in one of the living rooms;apparently it was hung over a bed for asleep-over and has been skilfully madefrom twine, baby pins and what looks likeantique French linen.

In fact, scratch that previous Bloomsburyreference: I feel like Charles Ryder visitingBr ideshead.

Annabelle has two favourite antiquesin her home, she reveals. The first isa set of archive shelves and the second,a 17th-century bed in one of the manybedrooms. Although the shelves areindustrial, their period means that they areincredibly detailed, almost like a machineof levers and ratchets which has long agofallen asleep.

The 17th-century bed is marvellous, butthen each bedroom has as its centrepiecea large, Gothic bed. Moving on from myBr ideshead analogy, I now imagine thatstaying over at Annabelle’s would feelrather like sleeping inside a Wagner opera.

Annabelle and her wonderfully grandhome are what most people would call“eccentr ic”. I’m not a fan of this word; it’sso often used as an easy way to write off

THE EXTERIOR OF THE HOUSE.

THE DINING ROOM IS FURNISHED WITH A SELECTION OF ANTIQUES. THE WOOD-PANELLED STAIRCASE.

“I love beautiful linen,” says Annabelle. “I’ve got Frenchlinen tablecloths and napkins and I love an eclecticmix of crockery and cutlery, so there’s no formality”

HOME WEEKLY 926 AUGUST 2012 hou ses

A BEAUTIFUL OLD ANTIQUE DRESSER.

ONE OF THE HOME’S MANY ORIGINAL FIREPLACES.

A LIVING ROOM, WITH TROPHIES AND MORE ANTIQUES.

people and their ideas as weird. I’m notsuggesting that Annabelle isn’t weird (shemay well be) but her approach to living isinspiring, generous and fun and I thinkwe can all learn a lot from her irreverence,even if we don’t live in a mansion.

So many beautifully designed houses arereally uptight, more like still lives for photoshoots than homes to be lived in. Antiquesbalancing precariously and collecting dustmay speak about history, but don’t saymuch about how to live with them now.

A n na b el le ’s home is quite different: herebotanical prints perch next to cymbidiumorchids and other miscellany, and everyonegets on with enjoying their lives aroundthem. “It’s not precious or prissy,” say sAnnabelle, “it’s lived-in”.

“It’s also about making do,” she says,“about being creative and throwing thingsto get her. ” I’m with you, I tell her, but withrespect, what you have to make do with isa 110-year-old mansion. We laugh.

She talks to me about catering forimpromptu dinners of 15 to 25 people — aregular occurrence. “I found a set of glassesthat I liked at Mr Price Home. I bought 36and I’m devastated because now so manyare broken. I mix those with crystal becauseI don’t have enough crystal glasses.” S heexcitedly describes joining tables togetherwith planks and bricks, finding chairs toaccommodate the unexpected guests; addtable linen and crockery and an impromptumenu all comes together beautifully.

“But how do you make it look beautiful?”I ask. “Because some people would throwsome planks together and it would look like,well, planks thrown together.

“I don’t know.” She considers thequestion. “I love beautiful linen; I’ve gotFrench linen tablecloths and napkins andI love an eclectic mix of crockery andcutlery, so there’s no formality.” S heexplains that when all the elements arebeautiful and considered then you canplay and it will come out charmingly.S he ’s clearly a brilliant hostess.

We make a final turn through thekitchen, taking a look at Annabelle’swonderful collection of recipe books andcrockery. I wish she would invite me fordinner so I could fall asleep afterwards ina bedroom warmed by a fireplace, curledup inside the symphony that is her home.

A GUEST BATHROOM.

ORIGINAL WOODEN FITTINGS IN THE KITCHEN.

ANNABELLE WITH HER DOGS.