Farm FUSION

A farmhouse near Cape Town has been given a rustic-meets-industrial makeover, using found materials and objects, as well as treasures brought back from afar

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The work on this house was more of a resurrection than a renovation,' says Dapper De Wet, who owns this 164-yearold house in the hamlet of Philadelphia, near Cape Town. We live in a throwaway culture where new and fashionable designer pieces are desirable. I wanted to take the opposite approach here: I didn't buy anything new for the house. Everything has come from my childhood farm or my travels.' The Victorian-era house, part of which was being operated as a general store, was bought on a whim five years ago.

The pandemic propelled Dapper's plans to relocate from Singapore, presenting an opportunity to transform the building while living in it. He gradually drew out the house's full potential, first converting a tractor shed into a rustic, barn-like wing, and then replacing and repairing heritage features before finally filling it with his collection of furniture and accessories.

Despite growing up on a farm in a remote South African village, by the time Dapper moved to this hamlet (population 570), he hadn't called South Africa home for decades.