When Marc and James set about transforming what was essentially a dark, wood-clad farmhouse into what 7 Koppies is today, they weren’t following a brief. They were following a life. Two lives, in fact – woven together from Rome, Milan, Sri Lanka, Berlin, and eventually, this particular hill in the Western Cape.
Marc studied architecture in Milan. His eye is trained to notice what most people feel but can’t name – the way a doorway frames a view, the reason a room feels calm, the decision to leave stone raw rather than polish it smooth. That last choice is everywhere at 7 Koppies. Raw stone. Raw concrete. Timber that’s been allowed to age.
“We like allowing materials to age – in the spirit of Japanese Wabi-sabi, we see perfection in imperfection.” – Marc
The bones of the original farmhouse remain – sash windows, Dutch doors, the Cape Dutch pitch of the roof – but Marc layered other worlds on top. The two open pavilions on either side of the pool were inspired by Sri Lankan temple architecture and the philosophy of Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka’s most celebrated architect. They function as outdoor living rooms, sheltered from the wind, framing the inner garden. It’s a way of living that James knows from his own history – born to a British mother and Sri Lankan father, raised in Rome, surrounded by exactly this kind of unhurried, al fresco life.
Inside, the rooms are furnished with objects collected over years of travel. A William Morris fabric here – a nod to the Arts and Crafts movement Marc had to work with and came to love. A piece found in an Asian market there. Nothing was sourced from a catalogue. Everything has a provenance, even if only Marc and James know what it is.
The result is a house that resists easy description – Cape Dutch structure, Sri Lankan soul, Italian spirit, Japanese restraint, African landscape. Guests often say it feels like a home, not a hotel. That’s not an accident. It’s the whole point.