Our friends Alan and Carla, live in an extraordinary home in Midrand, Johannesburg.
They bought a perfectly ordinary house, and with the help of Sylvio Rech, Carla's architect brother( famous for his African lodges and hotels), they transformed it into a unique residence.
It is also a visually exciting space in which to display their ever growing collection of African Art.
Just outside the kitchen door are these beautiful carved posts from West Africa, that stand like silent guardians watching over the busy comings and goings of family and friends.
Unconventional use of angled walls, as well as colour and mosaic make the wide passages a visual feast.
And several built in alcoves, are home to tiny 'worlds' inhabited by Alan's cast of thousands of African figures, most are carved to be used in traditional rituals and daily african life.
Towers of African stools form interesting 'totems' against the passage walls, along with ceremonial figures and maize grinders that hold countless, exquisitely carved walking sticks and spears.
To enter this home; partake of it's wealth of culture and beauty, and better still sit down at Carla's scrubbed kitchen table for an Italian meal of some splendour, is to feel fully the joy of life amongst friends in lightest Africa.
xxx elle
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