{Villa Palazzo del Capo | Sumptious palatial luxury |  Bantry Bay Cape Town}

The Villa Palazzo dl Capo is simultaneously a priceless classic with an air of contemporary, post-modern individualism and style.

One enters from the road level, up a wide flight of creamy marbled tiles. Lush, green, leafy landscaping is the opening scene in the lower garden level, contained snugly within the solid, riven-stone walls.  Continuing up the marble stairway, the wide , smooth platform of yet more travertine tiling extends itself out like a gleaming and silky smooth stage - ideal for outdoor entertaining with many friends and family in the height of Summer.

{Villa Palazzo del Capo | Outdoor area}

An aquamarine-hued, slim line rectangular rim-flow pool set flush with the smooth floor of creamy marble merges with the 180 degree blue ocean views .

The rest of this space is finished off with teak garden furniture, deck chairs and a spiral staircase  in walnut finishings which leads one to a tucked away corner of indulgent opportunities. A tiered seated, wood-slatted sauna and an outdoor 8-seater jacuzzi .

The direction the property  faces is to  the North-West  and the wide, outward-jutting balconies serve as protection, temperature control  and respite from the wind and the harsh Cape elements.

{Villa Palazzo del Capo | Downstairs living area}

The downstairs entrance area is conjoined and open-plan designed, intermingling the dining, formal living and entertainment venues. With corner to corner walnut and mahogany flooring,  a dark Cherry-Wood grand piano is the focal point.

In the foreground are a classic arrangement of neutral-toned lounge pieces . When sliding along to the entertaining lounge, one is faced with a sleek and shining walnut bar finished with sandblasted glass. Dark mahogany stools circulate the prominent bar  and eclectic, surrealist art and sculptures are scattered throughout the extended living area, the most notable of which can be viewed at the base of the staircase.

{Villa Palazzo del Capo | Interior design}

This cylindrical, textured, ceramic  vase is  coloured in stone-grey and misty cobalt blue, a towering piece by Louise Gelderblom. The  interior design and decoration itself  is the revered creation of designer Francois Du Plessis. He stays true to the homes projected theme in every aspect, maintaining the feel of refinement, sharp angles and contemporary opulence. He has limited his use of colour to pastel earth tones, terracotta’s, wood and silver or stainless steel.

The dining area is in the furtherst right-hand corner of the ground-level, and is intimately ensconced by grass cloth-clad walls and a feature piece of oil on canvas, adding to the warmth and glow  with its deeply rich reds and purples.

{Villa Palazzo del Capo | The kitchen & wine cellar}

The entrance to the galley-style kitchen is preceded by  any connoisseur’s dream cellar. This clear-glass double door closet allows is a walk in floor to ceiling rack, providing the space to store anything from the oldest vintages and French Champagne to as much South African favourites as your heart desires.

The kitchen itself is functional and utility orientated, providing a streamlined; solid area of which  the ease of access and reach has been kept in mind with the incorporated elements of design. Frivolous decorations have been kept to a bare minimum, and finishings are accented with dark-stained ash and stainless-steel.

Work surfaces are of contrasting stainless-steel and Shiva Kashi granite. The back exit leading to the concealed rear of the property allows access to the servants quarters. A live-in gardener and handy-man maintains the garden,pool, and remaining outdoor labour -related areas, a live-in housekeeping lady is trained in serving expertly cooked meals every day and routinely cleaning rooms and laundering clothes and linen.

{Villa Palazzo del Capo | Guest cottage}

The front entrance to the kitchen exits onto the front tiled patio, to the left of which is an added extension. This inconspicuous door opens itself into the guest cottage. A cosy, furnished lounge with a large T.V, dvd, Hi-fi and fully-equipped kitchenette will greet you and a neatly functional bathroom is tucked to the left with a shower, toilet and basin. A spiral staicase winds up to a sunlit, snug bedroom. Mirrored walls, a queen-sized bed, double door wardrobe and sliding doors leading to the private balcony greet you with the expected breathtaking view of the oceans expance. En-suite is the bathroom, which is mirrored in style to the ones throughout the main house. A large jacuzzi style bath completes the all-inclusive nature of this extra little home.

{Villa Palazzo del Capo | 2nd level bedroom area}

Back inside the main house, a wide teak wood and Baleau timber ,steel railed stair-case  leads one into the second level bedroom area. Padding along the plush carpeted corridor allows one face-on access to a small recreation room, again opening up through sliding glass panes to a sunshiny balcony.

On the far left of the corridor outside, a large guest bedroom is beautifully adorned in muted, natural tones to brilliantly off-set the sunlight streaming in. A king-sized bed , multi-doored; paneled wardrobes and a built-in desk meet any given need and an en-suite with a jacuzzi-style bath, bidet, toilet and shower are fitted within more soft travertine tiling.  Back in the corridor one is lead to a second, large flawlessly equipped bathroom separate, but directly across from a smaller, child sized room.

The third and biggest room of the 2nd floor three, can be used as a child’s bedroom or a third master guest-suite. Walk in wood-panelled wardrobe and mirrors on one side and a vast, light-filled haven of restful luxuriousness opens up in this never-ending light, cool space. The bed and en-suite bathroom remain the same in detail as with the first room, but with the added feature of a low-sitting couch, white marble coffee table and big-screen TV.

{Villa Palazzo del Capo | 3rd level study}

A final walk up the timber steps winds up to a grand and richly wood-clad study and reading room. This third level utopia of recreational comforts is finished with an oak-wood ceiling and a walnut floor. Deep coloured, rich leather wingbacks circulate the  studies desk and in the foreground, leather and Kudu seating is arranged around a coffee-book table. Along the walls are mahogany and oak book cases and the balcony is as ever accessed through the signature glass sliding doors. Suffice it to say that at this height, the view creates the feeling of weightlessness and flight above the seascape.

{Villa Palazzo del Capo | 3rd level bedroom area}

Back inside the two master-suite bedrooms are both exquisitely offset by dark-stained, sliding timber shutters; built to provide the desired shading and privacy one requires. In the suite designed to be the most indulgently large and furnished of the two , the king sized bed is raised onto a floating walnut platform.

The exterior of the bedroom is extended from the bed through a reclining TV lounge-space and through the sliding doors onto a timber deck. This layered interface is furnished with natural woods and ceramics and remains functional, shaded and private. The main en-suite bathroom accesses this same balcony through floor to ceiling glazed aluminium doors, allowing one to sit in the free-standing bath-tub and absorb the ocean views.

Sand-blasted, misted glass surrounds the toilet and adjoins the seamless walk in shower which has its front wall built in clear glass to again stand under the water and still feel as if you are showering beneath the gleaming canopy of stars and moonlight. Oversized, side-long porcelain tiles in pastel beiges, whites and soothing creams accentuate the crisp, sparkling ambience with a cooling softness.

{Villa Palazzo del Capo | Decadent Summer refuge}

This villa is a palace, a refuge, a place of contemplative afternoons of reclining as they endlessly stretch into lazy Summer sunset splashed evenings. Here, one can forget about all but for the dreamy decadence this refuge invokes within.