The Villa Today

7 Muirfield Close

Our home is situated not far from the main gate of the Estate, at the bottom of a short Close.

Looking down from the top of the driveway.  There are two garages and carport parking for three vehicles.

The stairs lead down from the carport to the outer front door.

I designed the stained glass strelitzias and had them made in Johannesburg.

Through the front door, one goes down a walkway to the inner front door.

On the right you will pass a garden, lawn and the pool.

The pool is 12,5m long, and narrow, so that one can do gentle laps.

The garden is easy to maintain and we have a gardener who comes in once a week to keep it in order.

The end of the deck

Looking back towards the carports and front door area

Looking back down the length of the pool

The Downstairs Living areas

Once inside, you enter a sort of foyer area, and you look out over the main deck towards the river.

To your right, you would look straight down the living room to the dining room.  

From foyer to lounge and the dining area

From dining area towards foyer and kitchen

The main deck is lovely - large, and with an outdoor dining area that we tend to use all year round.

With back to the river, looking towards the foyer.

There is a gas barbecue that is built in, a Weber type kettle barbecue, and a Weber gas barbecue - the latter are portable and we tend to prefer the Weber gas barbecue.
There is a birdie restaurant at the end of the deck, with seed dispensers.

We get flocks of little bronze mannikins, weavers, indigo birds and more, feeding at the seed houses.  We also get a hot of other birds, and mouse birds, purple crested turacos, bulbuls and lots more will visit if you put out fruit - but please be careful of monkeys!

Looking down the deck in the opposite direction

The Kitchen

There is a built in bar fridge in the foyer, and all the cookery, glasses, cutlery and more, are stored in this area's African rosewood cabinets.

The herb garden outside the back door.

From kitchen onto main deck

Cooking area

Kitchen looking back towards foyer and lounge

Scullery area looking at part of pantry area and coffee nook.

Looking towards back dooor

The laundry is in the utility room, off the breezeway, and has its own stable door leading to drying area and shortcut to kitchen.

Utility room from breezeway door

Utility room looking towards breezeway door

Recycling collection are every second week, and refuse is collected Fridays.

The Downstairs bedroom wing

Deliciously cool in summer, these bedrooms can be a bit chilly in winter.  

The main guest bedroom downstairs has a king sized bed, French doors out onto a tiny courtyard, and a full bathroom (bath, basin, shower and toilet).

The shower is on the right, and there is a blind over the window, shown pulled right up.

The second guest bedroom downstairs has two three-quarter beds, and a small shower bathroom.

There is a dressing table/desk with a mirror inside the desk lid and space for toiletries, etc. inside the cavity.

There is another room, which is used for storage.

There is a third bathroom downstairs, which can be used as a guest cloakroom.

Upstairs

At the top of the stairs there is a large open space which we use as a TV room.

The TV is a 65" modern HD etc,  and we have a Premier DSTC service
The breezeway leads to the guest bedroom, whose door can just be seen.

The Upstairs Guest Room

The room is large and airy, and has a view out over the pool and garden.
There is a dressing table, lots of cupboard space, and a shower bathroom.

The bed is a new top-of-the-range pillow top & memory foam Sealy...like sleeping on a cloud!

The shower side of the bathroom.

Basin area is out of sight on the left.

The Main Bedroom

Our bedroom, looking towards the entrance and the bathroom

The above are all various views of our bathroom.

The Studies

The main study is where the modem is.   We have fibre and so a reliable and reasonably fast internet connection.

The Main study, off the TV landing area

The right end of my deck-enclosed study area, with two desks and a comfortable ergonomic but higher chair.
You can see my rebounder in the right corner.

The left end, directly off the TV area, of my study area.  I love plopping on the divan and reading from time to time.

The view from my study

You can just see the owl box on the tree on the left:

We recently had an owl box installed by the Owl Rescue Centre.   We I've in hope that an owl will take up residence and start a family!

The Utility Room Renovation Project

In July 2017 we started a project to renovate our kitchen and utilize our fifth bedroom as a Utility Room.

We had the necessary electrical and plumbing alterations done, plus a new stable door inserted to access the outside drying area.   Then we moved all the cabinets to the new utility room, plus the washing machine and tumble dryer, Esther's fridge, and all the cleaning paraphernalia.

Seen from the door to the breezeway.  There is a kettle, an induction cooker, and everything needed for the housekeeper to prepare meals for herself and the gardener, as needed.

We gave one bed to a friend for a lodge, and kept the other for the very occasional times that our housekeeper might need to stay overnight.

Seen from the style door.   The built in cupboards can be seen - plenty of storage for linen and other household items.

The cabinets are made from salina - a very red form that is almost indistinguishable from rosewood.