Take a look inside Clifton’s castle-like boutique hotel

* This article appears in our Holiday edition of the Home Improver digital magazine

Owner Hugo Thomas Jankowitz built 21 Nettleton Road as his private residence and he enjoyed it for 10 years before opening it to guests as a unique, unpretentious and bespoke five-star boutique hotel.

Set in the famously beautiful and most expensive street in South Africa – Nettleton Road in Clifton – backed by Lion’s Head with endless views of the Atlantic Ocean, the house is charming and unique.

The seven-storey castle-like house towers above the street and a steep driveway takes you to the front door, situated mid-way up. If you enter from street level you’ll ascend several staircases to reach the entrance.

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Hotelier Dirk Jacobs, who’s been in the business for over a decade with roots in five-star boutique properties with emphasis on art and design, runs the space with an unpretentious flair.

The Wim Botha bust, far right, is made not from marble but from from mieliepap, that staple of the South African diet. Here Botha subverts the authority traditional to Western marble busts by instead using a cheaper, more accessible medium. Picture: Supplied

Jacobs says Jankowitz didn’t want an overly contemporary design, like most other homes in Clifton and Camps Bay. Instead he chose a timeless, unique European style.

The works of renowned South African artist François Krige accompany guests up the grand stairway of this elegant Clifton boutique hotel. The Krige collection is a glimpse through time, a snapshot of the era when Krige lived in the Klein Karoo town of Montagu. Picture: Supplied

The home‘s exterior is meant to blend with the mountain. Inside Chinese vases, Rococo clocks, figurine candelabras, grand pianos, baroque gold-framed mirrors and artworks dot the home.

Even the pool – shaped like a musical note and set among granite boulders – is an artwork. The interiors are built around Jankowitz’s art collection, says Jacobs.

The grand stairway features a collection of François Krige’s art, characterised by vivid colours, simple carved or gilded frames and mystically beautiful palettes. The landing at the top of the stairway marks a sharp contrast, as it is filled with bronze statues of dancers and travellers. Picture: Supplied

Every piece has a story and memory attached to it and the spaces were built around the art instead of the more conventional method of curating art for a space. The large mirror in the lounge is an example.

Jankowitz had it in storage for many years because he had nowhere to hang it. When building 21 Nettleton he made sure there was a large enough wall for it.

This photograph of a heavily tattooed young man was taken by Germanborn Armin Pflanz, who lives in South Africa. The portrait is part of a series on former gangsters from Pollsmoor Prison, titled ‘Who Are You?’. Picture: Supplied

The art at 21 Nettleton reflects the owner’s thirst for travel. It is private and personal. Walking through the magnificent home with its many surprise nooks, creates the feeling you are in someone’s home, instead of a hotel – and Jankowitz does stay in his private quarters for part of the year.

The six bedrooms each have their own butler and are uniquely curated with bespoke art, antique furniture and luxurious soft furnishings.

The bathroom in the Emperor Suite at 21 Nettleton 21. Picture: Supplied

There is a lounge and breakfast nook that overlook the icy Atlantic. Outdoors, the rolling lawns lead to nature walks to a pergola, overlooked always by the brooding mountains.

The lounge opens out onto the terrace which overlooks the ocean. Picture: Supplied

The owner’s advice to homeowners who want to create a similar sense of old-world grandeur and beauty? “Glass and concrete will go out of style. Create instead spaces that are meaningful to you, tell a story. “Life is really too short to live a minimalist life.”