All our love for intrigue and inquisitiveness about “the story behind the story” was satisfied in this project. What was initially a quick “fixer upper” turned into a full blown restoration project. Many hours were spent on site and in turn the building revealed some wonderful secrets.

Some of our treasured memories are the beautiful, original blue wall kitchen tiles that were still intact inside on of the cupboards. We found a ceramist who colour matched these tiles and manufactured new tiles to restore the entire kitchen. We removed the linoleum from the passage floors and discovered the most beautiful terracotta tiles. The tiles were wax treated and the passage now has that intriguing “aged beauty” feel and smell.

Another discovery was the much speculated, “secret” underground escape tunnel. We found the entrance from the house, but the location of the actual tunnel was mystery. After pouring over old photographs we realised that one side of the house was seldom photographed. In a 1994 photograph of De Klerk and Mandela, we saw a glimpse of an escape staircase. This has since been demolished and the underground bunker covered up. The team convinced the contractor to dig in this area and to go deeper and deeper.... and yes, big excitement, we found it!!