Villa Lumaire - Leisure Island

Villa Lumaire is a modern four-bedroom villa on Church Square, built around a pool that runs nearly the full length of the garden. It is the most designed house on the island and makes no apology for it.

A wall-mounted sign marks the entrance beside the garage. The front elevation is flat and pale, and after dark the lit windows make it resemble the drawing it started life as. There is parking, including an accessible bay, and a private entrance.

One room doing three jobs

The ground floor is one long open space: a corner sofa around a built-in fireplace at one end, a dining table in the middle, a kitchen island under pendant lights with bar stools along it. Tall mirrors run down the bar wall. A second lounge sits behind with its own television. There is a dishwasher, a washing machine and air conditioning.

Sliding doors at the bed’s foot

The four bedrooms sleep eight. They are neutral and quiet, with dark headboards, round mirrors and lamps either side, and most have floor-to-ceiling sliding doors opening straight onto the garden. One has corner windows and a pendant light instead. There are four bathrooms, one with a freestanding tub beneath a frosted window and a double vanity beside it.

Timber slats and a rooftop sofa

The pool is the centre of it all, sun loungers under a pergola along one side and outdoor sofas at the other. Timber screens throw stripes across the water in the afternoon. There is an outdoor fireplace and a braai, and above it a rooftop terrace with an L-shaped sofa facing the hills.

Church Square and outward

The island is flat, residential and joined to Knysna by the Armstrong Road causeway, so no traffic comes across that is not coming here. Steenbok Nature Reserve occupies the northern shore, free and never closed. If something smaller suits, there are smaller guest houses too.

Built for

A large family, or two or three couples travelling together who will use the pool and cook at home.