Road To Jonty's

Cricket legend Jonty Rhodes’ Cape Town home is a vibrant, tactile space befitting their globetrotting lifestyle and love for the ocean

- Kerryn Fischer

It seems fitting that the home of cricket legend Jonty Rhodes and his architect wife Melanie is right by the sea at St James in Cape Town’s False Bay — a quiet, gentle coastal suburb. Ocean lovers at heart and passionate about longboarding, they first met whilst surfing more than six years ago. The couple bought their 170-year-old heritage home while looking for a relaxed family home. Having a penchant for nostalgia, Melanie is drawn to old, simple and classic homes, built with necessary craftsmanship and celebrated tradition. She set about unearthing the bones of the house to reinstate many of its wonderful original features like Oregon doors, windows, shutters and ceiling beams, brass and black ironmongery and a green marble fireplace. Once stripped of paint, most of the beautiful antiques were found to be in mint condition. The spaces within the house were reconfigured to isolate the upper level for p