Cabin Cool

Situated between a picturesque estuary and the sea, this South African family cottage combines a crisp update on cabin design with old-fashioned boathouse style

- Robyn Alexander/Bureaux

Jo and Sarah Sinfield and their daughter, Florence-with Rufus the Labrador in towhead down the jetty to hop on a boat.

The boathouse-inspired architecture at Coot Club honors the pristine surrounding landscape-which includes the Klein River estuary lagoon and the Maanschynkop mountainswith nautical themes, traditional boat-building timbers, dark gray exteriors, and environmentally sensitive placement on the contours of the land.

Eight years ago, Jo Sinfield and his wife, Sarah, spent a weekend at a lodge on the Overberg coast near Stanford, South Africa, about two hours from Cape Town. As the couple are inveterate and professional travelers-Sarah is a bespoke tour operator and Jo a cofounder of Explorers Club, a collective of accommodations options and creators of off-the-map expeditions in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya-this was an ordinary part of their routine. But on this occasion, there was an unexpected bonus to the visit: It opened Jo's eyes to the utterly unique property next door.