DOWN TO EARTH

The Gomes family's dream to live more connected to the land and more in tune with themselves has been fulfilled with Jardim, their food garden and contemporary country home in the rural enclave of Noordhoek, Cape Town.

- VICKI SLEET

About six years ago, we all went to a childhood friend's farm for Sunday lunch. It was late in the afternoon, we were sitting at a table under the trees, our host had just brought a pitcher of lemonade for us to drink and the kids were riding horses while the sun was setting.

It couldn't have been more picture perfect and I leaned over to Angela and said, 'This is what life is about' - that was the moment for us", says Justin Gomes.

Justin, an owner of a successful advertising agency, is one of those people who thinks in visual narratives and from that moment of rural bliss, he and Angela began developing the vision for a semi self-sufficient life on a beautiful piece of land, close enough to schools for their three children but in a place that could offer them an opportunity to lean into a life they wanted.

Their Noordhoek property, Jardim, consists of a sprawling self-sufficient food garden, horse paddocks and stables, and a yoga studio built using reclaimed doors and windows from their home renovation. "Originally the property consisted mainly of horse paddocks and felt hemmed in by trees, but removing some of them to reveal the mountain view is one of the first things we did and it was a revelation," says Justin of their stunning sun-filled property.