Grand Designs Australia

SYLVAN SYMPHONY

“I ALWAYS WANTED SOMETHING IN THE TREE CANOPY... I NEVER WANTED A BUILDING THAT WAS GOING TO IMPOSE ITSELF. I DIDN’T WANT SOMETHING SYMMETRICAL. I HOPED IT WOULD BLEND IN AND ENHANCE ITS SURROUNDINGS AND INVITE THE OUTSIDE IN” – GRAHAM PAARMAN

The starting point for Graham Paarman’s cabin-like tree house, found in the famously beautiful wine region of Constantia in Cape Town, South Africa, was a particular spot he’d chosen on his family estate — a clearing among the trees overlooking four square reflection ponds. The estate has extensive landscaped gardens, a manor house and a number of dwellings and buildings arranged along the lines of a modern interpretation of a “Cape Dutch werf”, or traditional

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