Barn Style

Market fans in the Cape know Wilna Rabe’s popular events at Simondium’s Country Lodge well, but not many people have the opportunity to see inside this creative woman’s home.

- Terena Le Roux

It’s early on a Monday morning when we drive in under branches full of glorious autumn leaves to Wilna’s housein-a-barn on the family farm Riverside between Paarl and Franschhoek. The large barn door is open to welcome us and although we don’t immediately see our hostess, we are greeted enthusiastically by the great Danes, Kohler and Hendrik, and a flock of Swedish bantams. They all look very much at home in the large space that is Wilna’s bedroom, lounge, dining room and semi kitchen. I say ‘semi’, because this is the type of house that stylists love – there is no stove, fridge or washing machine to spoil the picture. We simply smile, because this is how we know Wilna. She styles a room without even realising that’s what she’s doing; it’s in her blood.

Wilna and her daughter Hanneke Klue’s guesthouse at Simondium is like a second home for the Ideas team. It’s where we regularly hold markets and spend creative weekends with our readers, and now and then it’s also the venue for our annual planning marathon. Wilna’s impeccable taste and passion for lovely antiques and vintage furniture made us increasingly curious about the decor in her own home.

When her husband, Frikkie, died suddenly four years ago, Wilna waited just six weeks before announcing she was moving out of the large homestead on Riverside. The house was now too big for her and her son Danie, and she already had another plan up her sleeve. She had her eye on the old piggery across from the house, with the intention of converting it into a oneroom open-plan home, with Danie in his own ‘flat’ next door.