Hygge House

Hygge House is a three-bedroom house on Kensington Gardens and it earns the name: wooden beams, a tiled wood-burning stove, cushioned window seats, and a hall with coat hooks and a bench where shoes come off.

A cobblestone driveway curves up to a double garage, the property’s name on a plaque set into the brick wall. There is parking. This is the inland side of the island, all hedges and gardens, and the house sits back behind a lawn.

Under the archway

A high archway divides one long open-plan living and dining space, wood floors throughout and beams overhead. There is a corner sofa with a window seat beside it, built-in bookshelves and the tiled stove. A second, lighter lounge uses a wooden chest as a coffee table. The kitchen is bright white with a long counter, an extractor hood, a dishwasher and a stable door.

Three rooms, and hallways

Three bedrooms sleep six: a king with a full-length mirror, a double with a writing desk and armchair, and a twin with blue roman blinds and a luggage rack. Two have desks, which is unusual and useful. The bathrooms are the surprise — one is travertine with columns, double basins and a glass shower, and there are narrower en-suites besides. A walk-in wardrobe runs off one room.

Pergola at the back

The back garden is lawn with a metal pergola over a patio dining table. Beside it sits a covered indoor-outdoor lounge with blue sofas and greenery pressing in, and a sunroom opens onto the same side. It is a garden made for sitting in rather than admiring.

Kensington Gardens outward

The lanes here are flat and residential and reach the water in most directions. Steenbok Nature Reserve lines the northern edge of the island, free to walk at any hour. The Armstrong Road causeway is the island’s only connection to Knysna. There are apartments here for smaller groups.

Who it fits

A family of six or three couples, in winter as much as in summer. The stove is the point of the place in July.