Architect Jaco Booyens brought his experience to bear on the project, highlighting his experience and insight into clay construction and working to retain the original history and heritage surrounding the site.
“Greg was looking for somebody that knows clay buildings and knows how to work with clay materials, so he gave me a call”, says Jaco. “We’re trying to keep the clay parts of the old structures, to take it back to how we think it might have looked (before)”.
Greg and Jaco’s vision aligned. “A lot of these buildings have been modernised, and a lot of them are simply falling apart due to neglect. I think it’s important that some of them are held together – it’s such a unique heritage for this part of the country”, says Greg.
For Greg, who was raised on sugar estates in Swaziland and Kwa-Zulu Natal and his partner, Nancy Kashimoto, who was born in Lusaka raised in London, the renovation of Buffelsdrift farm enabled the couple to enkindle their romance and bring together their divergent backgrounds into a home that expressed both synergy and individual identity.
“It’s been an amazing journey bringing us together, and bringing this house together… I’d always been very intrigued by this part of the country and I’ve always felt it would be interesting to have something out here, so it all just sort of came together and fell into place”, concludes Greg.