Jolie Blanc

Oranjezicht, Cape Town City Bowl,

You are here. To walk through the garden door of this sanctuary of a city home is to feel Cape Town all around you. Ease up the broad stairs and the front patio spills out before you with a generous entertainment deck that looks up straight into the great North face of the mountain, Lion's Head and Devil's Peak. Down below you, between the trees lies The Mount Nelson and beyond, the view to the city and harbour.

No need to use the front door when the outsize living room doors fold back into the wings, opening up a breeze of indoor space with daybeds, ottomans and lounging about barefoot the order of the day on the West Indies-style wooden floors. A study leads off - with Internet facilities for any unavoidable moments of duty or research in the midst of your holiday.

From the living room the casual-chic hub of the home unfolds through broad double inner doors onto the easiest of open plan kitchens and a spacious dining room lit all around through great sash windows. So that the legendary South African braai need never be compromised by weather or wind, just off the dining room is a master-chef's indoor grill [Binnebraai to the locals who love the best of the Cape's line- fish, fillet and crayfish caught that morning and flame-grilled before the sun sets].

Bedrooms and Bathrooms:
Jolie Blanc sleeps eight guests in four bedrooms.

The feel of "manyana, manyana" you get putting your feet up in the downstairs and outdoor living areas continues through into an airy guest bedroom off the downstairs. And with it a large, light bathroom in white and glass with excellent shower, bath and textured floors.

The upstairs echoes the atmosphere with a second lounge/living area with fold-out doors looking onto the City-bowl views.

A sight which, as you might expect, fills the windows of the en-suite master bedroom with King-size, extra length bed and a right treat of a bathroom [bath and shower]. A separate private balcony gives you an audience with Table Mountain, one on one.

The second bedroom, a double, also en-suite [bath only] boasts views of its own in Lion's Head and Signal Hill [of the noon-day gun fame]. Sharing a balcony is the third bedroom [queen-size], again with that signature outlook over the surrounding mountains and city as well as a separate bathroom with shower and bath.

Living Areas:
Both living rooms have full PVR Digital Satellite TV on big screens with DVD players. The downstairs living area has a knock-out sound system that plays through the house or just in the living room if so required.

There is a gas fire place in the downstairs living room, under-floor heating throughout the upstairs [not beneath the downstairs sprung wooden floors] and heated towel rails in all bathrooms.

Outdoor:
Straight off this centre of cooking, dining and lounging is a bright family room which opens out to an indoor/ outdoor living area and Caribbean wood-decked pool. Set in a Kikuyu-grass garden [brilliant under bare feet], bathed in sun it also features a jolly great natural umbrella of a tree for outdoor entertaining beneath the branches.

Other:
There is full security and an alarm system.
The pool has a pool net.
A charming, diligent Zimbabwean housekeeper who knows all the ins and outs of the property lives on site through the week.