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Architect and South African native Philip Olmesdahl’s family home is situated on a steep slope on Cape Town’s Table Mountain. On the center level of three stories, there’s a long stretch of terrace flanked by built-in planters overflowing with greenery. “Instead of a garden on the ground level, I wanted to build my garden up in the sky,” says Philip, one of the principals of the firm Saota. Native plants, seasonal vegetables, and herbs thrive. Lately, an assortment of homegrown aubergines, tomatoes, and chilies have made their way to the kitchen for a vegetable bake, “which turned out to be quite delicious,” he says. It is safe to say he has reached the pinnacle of indoor-outdoor lifestyle.
It was the culmination of 15 years’ worth of dreams. He and his family had lived in the area for several years (they had even owned and renovated the place next door at one point), and all along he’d admired the plot of land. Then, in 2019, they finally bought it—and promptly embarked on a three-year-long construction project. “The timing,…
