On The Face Of It

A stunning revamp of this home’s façade took it from old-school to cool…

- Elna Van Der Merwe

Corine and Adri Badenhorst bought their first home the year before they got married 15 years ago. But it would be a long time before they lived there as they first spent a few years in France.

“I worked at Boland College and Adri played rugby for Maties and later WP,” says Corine. “We got married in December 2004 and on the day our first child Imke was born, Adri received an offer to play for a French rugby club. Neither his parents nor mine were over the moon as this was their first grandchild!”

Nevertheless, the family went overseas and found themselves in Agen in the south-west of France, where they planned to live for just a year or two. Two years turned to six “because we loved it there so much,” says Corine.

Seven years ago, they returned to South Africa and to their house in the lovely Stellenbosch neighbourhood of Die Boord – conveniently located close to schools.

“But then Adri said: now there are five of us, not two, and we need to change so many things in this house. Maybe we should look around for something else.”

The Badenhorsts soon realised, however, that property prices in this student town had skyrocketed since they had last lived here. And although their house was an ugly clinker brick, it was in a sought-after neighbourhood. It would be far more economical to renovate it, so that’s what they did.