IN PICS | Let's go outside -Ten of the best dreamy verandas

LOOK OUT

Built along the natural ridgeline of the hillside, and using views as an axis to design its primary form, this contemporary getaway in the mountains – and its sleek veranda – is all about the views. Say the architects, “We wanted to make the most of the views, which are in all directions, and create outdoor living spaces from which to enjoy them.” The homeowners love to lounge under the pergola and watch the resident Pale Chanting Goshawks hunting the slopes of the other side of the valley.

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Architects Andrew Payne and Miguel Ferreira-da-Silva of Migs + Drew Architects (migsdrew.com) were briefed to create a contemporary take on a mountain cabin. The homeowners have a particular admiration for natural, traditional Malawi cane furniture, which led to them sourcing and distributing the product globally via Malawi Cane (canefurniturecapetown.co.za). Their raffia and cane items were ideal for this project, as the tones and textures are rooted in the landscape outside.

VINTAGE CHARM

“It’s a really old house and I felt it needed old things to bring it back to life,” says the owner of this quaint Victorian cottage. And as seen on this intimate, inviting and quietly stylish veranda, bring it back to life she did – by filling all the home’s spaces with perfectly imperfect furniture and fittings that reflect its historical character. From finishes to furnishings, the accent here is on the handmade and the authentic.

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One of the homeowner’s favourite places in the house, the veranda features a rambling granadilla vine and full-length wooden shutters that she commissioned a local carpenter to make. The well-worn cane and Morris chairs were junk-shop finds.

STONE COOL

This celebrity-owned island holiday house is the opposite of ostentatious: it has the feel of a country cottage rather than a glamorous holiday villa, an effect created via the use of a restrained design scheme that prioritises natural textures and colours. Wood, natural stone and woven wicker pieces are used throughout, including on this deep, cool and tranquil veranda, which was added during the home’s recent renovation.

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The veranda floor is made from local stone that has been hand-worked and manually inserted into a lime mortar continuous floor. Pared-back wooden veranda furniture was sourced by the architects and designers, More Design (moredesign.es), from Let’s Pause (letspause.es/en/), and the peacock chair is a vintage-store find.

ALFRESCO FEAST

This recently renovated cottage in a small country town is the home base of the creative director of a textile company who was born and bred in the area, and its typical vernacular features – such as shady verandas running the full length of both sides of the house – are complemented by personal touches that bring in colour and texture via salvaged pieces, plants, art and books. This veranda at the rear of the cottage sports a charming view across the adjacent fields, and is furnished for lounging and chatting on one side, and meals taken outdoors with family and friends on the other.

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The dining table is made from upcycled wood that came from homeowner and textile designer Frances van Hasselt’s (francesvh.com) family’s nearby dairy farm, and the vintage spindle-back dining chairs were inherited from an old friend. Frances made the mobile-style artwork on the wall – with friend and fellow designer Leandi Mulder – from shells, driftwood and plastic toy dinosaurs.

FARM FRESH

Described by its floral-designer owner as “modern meets farmhouse”, this home on a smallholding outside a bustling country town features an inspired assemblage of objects that makes its interiors both an intellectually engaging narrative and a visual treat. Each item here reflects a personal or historic meaning: “We don’t find them – they find us. They’re mostly passed-on heirlooms, gifts, and junk-shop or reclamation yard finds,” the homeowner says.

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Verandas are ideal spaces for creating a unique feel with inherited or vintage pieces. Floral designer and gardener Dané Erwee (okasie.co.za) says he “grew up with the blue and white plates that hang on the wall” of his home’s generously proportioned veranda. They were “my mother's collection. I recently unpacked it, and the vine growing through it adds a new take on something old.”

KEEP IT COUNTRY

One of our favourite rules of country living: a beautiful old home in a small town is (almost) always in possession of a charming veranda. This old-school outdoor living area is where the homeowners spend almost all their downtime in the summer months, as the sheltered, plant-filled space offers protection from the heat as well as a wide range of seating options. It’s as ideal for an afternoon spent reading and dozing as it is for a nightcap and a confidential chat.

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If the weather conditions permit it, there’s no reason to hide your favourite vintage Louis XV-style suite of furniture indoors. Here, these pieces – upholstered in lush green velvet – add glamour to an otherwise simple outdoor scheme that is big of tropical plants and also features a pair of authentic old industrial-style pendant lights.

THAT’S A WRAP

“We wanted the character of an old house, with the conveniences of a contemporary one,” say the owners of this suburban Victorian home. While they made a few changes to the existing structure, it was really through fresh combinations of finishes and furniture that the space was transformed from traditional to timeless. It still retains certain elements of its heritage, though, including the narrow but fully functional veranda that wraps around two sides of the building.

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Previously enclosed, the veranda is now open to the garden, and from the perfectly placed table and chairs, a slice of Cape Town’s landmark Table Mountain is visible above the trees. Glass pendant lights from Weylandts (weylandts.co.za) hang above the repurposed wine-barrel café chairs and table by Trudeau (esque.co.za), and the vintage bicycle was restored at Woodstock Cycle Works (woodstockcycleworks.com).

LAZY DAYS

Offering picturesque vignettes of the romantic garden created by its owners, the veranda of this suburban home built in the 1930s was, when recently renovated, extended so that it now wraps right around the house. It now functions as a smooth, unimpeded walkway all around the building, as well as featuring a variety of spaces that are furnished for purposes as wide-ranging as solitary relaxation with a book and entertaining groups of family and friends.

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Designed by architect Johann Slee (slee.co.za), the veranda is furnished with vintage Morris chairs, and sports a beautiful floor made from handmade clay bricks – traditionally known as “klompies” in South Africa – sourced in Swellendam near Cape Town, and laid out in a herringbone pattern. Find similar bricks at Revelstone (revelstone.co.za) or Lanes Ceramic Works (lanes.co.za). 

MAKING ROOM

A veranda running the full length of a house can be used to create a full set of outdoor “rooms”, as this inviting space demonstrates. “It's amazing how much time we spend outdoors now,” says the homeowner. “We wanted the flexibility to dine or relax outside, and it's given us so many options.” When it came to finishing and furniture choices, both she and her interior designer wanted to prioritise organic materials, lashings of plants, and pieces that felt more informal – and they also agreed that comfort was the top priority.

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Decorated by interior designer Simone Hirsch (simonekatherineinteriors.com), the veranda is cooled by paddle fans from Glo Lighting (glolighting.co.za) and features lots of hanging baskets planted with ferns. The slipper chairs are covered in Maranta by Osborne & Little (osborneandlittle.com), the rattan chairs are by Cécile & Boyd (cecileandboyds.com), and the onyx side table is from Weylandts (weylandts.co.za).

PERGOLA PERFECT

Their brief to the architects, say the homeowners of this laid-back holiday home, included a request “to expand our outside area, which was achieved by introducing classic Mallorquin-style pergolas”. The resulting veranda spaces now combine easy simplicity with an absolutely authentic aesthetic, but they were far from easy to get right, she adds: the challenge was to ensure that they would be “in complete harmony with nature and the house”.

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Here, architects More Design (moredesign.es) added a new river-stone floor,  as well as improving the pergola structure and updating the planting. Structurally, the pergola consists of masonry pillars with lime plaster, plus a locally forged iron metal top frame and cross wires covered with bamboo, and a salvaged mature grape vine. The vintage wooden chair and table were sourced by the homeowners at local flea markets.