LAY OF THE LAND

This farmhouse in the South African countryside expresses its owners' affinity for laid-back living and a knack for repurposed design

- TRACY CHEMALY

Growing up on Halfaampieskraal, a farm in South Africa's Cape Overberg region, Jan-Georg Solms recalls spending more hours outside on the veranda than inside his family home. Such blissful recollections of rural life made it integral for him to recreate this leisurely porch for sheltered outdoor living in his own dwelling, a mere 300 metres away from the home in which he was raised.

"There's very little to do here, other than watch the sun rising, and then setting 12 hours later,' Jan-Georg says, smiling about the simple life he shares with his partner Cobus Geldenhuys, their seven dogs, 150 geese and flock of sheep. 'Once in a while we'll hear a neighbour drive past and we get to see the blue cranes fly by twice a day; he adds, speaking of the undisturbed setting.

The veranda that runs the length of the home, was one of the only changes made to the original structure when the couple decided to move out of the main dwelling, which they run as a guest house. By doubling the depth of the veranda to five metres, they brought it flush with the guest room and bathroom walls, linking the two opposite areas by creating an outdoor lounge and dining area that looks out onto crops of canola, wheat, barley, and the Riviersonderend Mountains in the far distance.