“Poenankies” is an Afrikaans colloquial word which refers to a lovable or endearing person or object. We felt that the house is not merely “poenankies”, but “poena”. 

The house was designed by Bruno de Robillard, also known as McGregor’s Barefoot Architect. When we asked him to design for us he gave us an assignment.  “Write me a page or two about a day in your lives. How would you like to spend time in your house from dawn to bedtime?” Awie Page and his team started building in January 2002 and it was completed in April 2002.

The design of a modest rustic house is based on the traditional McGregor cottage: it sits low on the ground and units or outhouses are added on as needed.

The waterwise garden is planted mostly with indigenous plants like aloes and paperbark thorn trees. Low stonewall hedges edge the flowerbeds.

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This stone clad wall between the stoep and the bathroom is known as the friend’s wall.  These shale slabs can be found in the koppies surrounding the village. Bruno suggested that we form a work party of friends to help us gather and bring the stones to the building site. It was easy enough to choose and carry the stones to the bakkie, but it was more difficult to please Buno’s discerning eye. He vetted each contribution, and he was very particular. “No. This one is not flat enough. Out!”

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Nothing beats the fragrance of freshly baked bread from the woodfired oven. The oven was designed by Niel Jonker, friend and fellow artisan baker www.nieljonker.co.za  The oven design is based  on similar ovens built over three hundred years ago by the first French immigrants in Quebec.   Hester’s Book of Bread can be bought from major bookstores or on amazon for the full story of our baking adventures.

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The outdoor shower and the little fountain are decorated with shards of crockery and tiles made by the owners. 

Bruno’s picture windows frame the ever changing views perfectly. 

The bathroom window features the seven chakras and is based on a design by Lies.

The shed has a red door. When you come closer the graffiti shows you that it once belonged to Freek.

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Next to the oven, in a little wall niche, is a simple image of Hestia – two stones, one lightly balanced on the other. The bottom stone is dark and the top one has a blue shine.

The bread oven is named after Hestia, the Greek goddess of the hearth. Hestia is not as well known as Astarte and Isis. Her presence was simply indicated with a circle of hearth stones around the fire place.

Hestia was the daughter of Crones and Rhea and the sister of Zeus and Hera. As goddess of the hearth she never deserted the home of the gods and she never got drawn into endless wars and dramas of her fellow gods. In every citadel or humble home Hestia provided a safe refuge to all who fled violence. She is known as the first founder of a true home.

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