House and Leisure House of the Year 2006

“Prince of Tides”, the home in the conservation village of Misty Cliffs, Cape Town, of Greg Shaw and Kobus Loots, was announced the House and Leisure House of the Year 2006 at an awards ceremony at Weylandts, Fourways, in Johannesburg on Thursday 23 August.

Over the past year House and Leisure showcased 11 of the most inspiring homes in South Africa, culminating in its annual House of the Year supplement in the March 2007 issue. The winning home was decided by reader vote as well as a consensus by an expert judging panel. The award is presented in association with Weylandts and readers were invited to vote for their favourite finalist and put themselves in line to win stylish furniture from Weylandts to the value of R30 000.

The owners of the nominated homes included a designer, interior designers, a photographer, and an architect – but it was modern coastal home of Greg Shaw and Kobus Loots that took top honours. The basic guidelines to architect Vanessa Sass was of a house that was “streamlined but not austere” and the result is a breathtaking timber home, built into the towering cliffs behind it. The décor is a happy mix of mid-twentieth century collectables, playful irony and African warmth.

The home's contemporary architectural design and the amazing sense of place made “Prince of Tides” a popular choice with the readers and judges Lianne Burton (House and Leisure editor) Chris Weylandt (Weylandts), Donyale MacKrill (House and Leisure's business development manager), Jill de Villiers (The Home Channel), Palesa Mokubung (creator of the label Mantsho), Fergus Armstrong (Fergus Armstrong Interiors) and Sarah Calburn (Sarah Calburn Architects).