From the street it looks like a postcard. A crisp black-and-white tiled patio (referred to as stoep in these parts), hedging with a playful twist and classic Victorian fretwork all basking under the vast, bright sky of the Karoo. Walk through the front door of this Richmond small-town home and you realise quickly: this house doesn’t play it safe.
Named ‘House of Light and Shadow’, architect Jan Sauer was principle in the transformation of this slice of history in South Africa’s semi-desert north. The house was once part of a row of bookshops, some of the first structures built in the area. ‘They’d fallen into disrepair,’ says Jan. ‘But I loved them from the start. You could see the potential immediately.’
This is not your typical restoration. Jan, who may have trained as an architect but has an intuitive eye for interiors, isn’t interested in pastiche or overly polished finishes. He’s interested in mood, flow and spaces that feel lived-in. ‘I don’t like building new things if there’s something old with potential,’ he says. ‘I try to keep the history intact.’
The front of the house sticks closely to its Karoo-Victorian roots. Jan reinstated the original fretwork, repaired broken balustrades and kept the silhouette as it was. But there are clues to what lies beyond: hedges clipped into soft curves and a non-working windmill topped with a sunflower, a nod to the region’s farming identity and a touch of humour.
Stepping inside, everything shifts. The foyer is dark and dramatic. A suspended installation made from twisted vine salvaged from the garden hovers above a vintage table, with four chandeliers wrapped around the vine like a sculptural nest. ‘It sets the tone,’ Jan says. ‘The house is about contrast. Old and new, light and shadow. It’s about how light behaves,’ he continues. ‘It’s moody but not flat. It draws your eye up.’
From the foyer, you step down into a white passage — a soft space with pale tones, arched cloud-like pendant lights and a gentle shift in level that reflects the building’s evolution over time. ‘That’s classic Karoo,’ Jan says. ‘The original rooms were built first, then more were added, often on lower ground. So, you get these lovely transitions.” It’s a calming space yet energy exists in the mix of textures: A woven runner, timber details and crisp white walls.
One of the biggest surprises in the house is a cobalt blue room — walls, shelves and lighting installations all saturated in colour. ‘That was new for me,’ Jan says. ‘I’ve always leaned towards neutrals, but I decided to go all-in — and I loved the result.’ A custom bookshelf in the same electric blue anchors one wall. ‘It’s a reference to the building’s bookshop past,’ he says. ‘I wanted it to feel like a reading corner, something a little unexpected.’
The bedrooms strike a different tone, one that is calmer, more intimate, but with the same layered thinking. The wallpaper in the bathroom is a standout, bold and detailed, reminiscent of Delftware, the kind you might find lining the cabinets of an old Karoo kitchen. ‘When I saw this pattern, I knew it had to go in the bathroom. It just made sense with the house.’
Out back, Jan added a generous stoep and an open-air dining area covered by sheets of fabric. ‘It gets really hot here in summer, so you need shaded outdoor spaces,’ he explains. ‘In the Karoo, the stoep is the most important part of the house.’ The garden is part structure, part wild. Soft topiary forms lead into looser plantings, which include cosmos, butterfly bush and edible flowers. ‘I like things to be a bit messy,’ Jan says. ‘Everything here can be used for cooking, for garnishes, for scent. And it attracts bees, which I love.’
Jan’s architectural eye is unmistakable throughout the home — but so is his instinct for atmosphere. It’s a home that was uncovered, room by room, story by story. ‘I’m proud of the whole thing,’ he says. ‘Just seeing it come together. Giving it life again.’
Credits
Text by Lori Cohen
Images: Greg Cox
Production by Sven Alberding
This article was first published in the House & Garden 2025 September/October Issue
