Timeless Italtile style

Val de Vie in the Cape Winelands has earned an enviable reputation as one of the world’s leading luxury wellness estates, where discerning, style-conscious families live in harmony with a biodiverse environment that includes pristine fynbos, lakes, and mountains. Here, magnificent residences, ranging from luxe lock-up-and-go apartments to stately mansions, are designed with an indoor-outdoor flow to take full advantage of the secure, peaceful, outdoorsy lifestyle.

Recently, the Robinson family of Val de Vie invested in a top-tier reimagining of their patio and poolside to add value to their property. They found inspiration in Italtile’s onsite Val de Vie Gallery. This carefully curated collection of Italtile’s bijou home design products is overseen by Italtile’s Cape Town branch, where Etienne Jordaan is not only a commercial agent but also the Val de Vie key account manager. Etienne, with extensive experience in and knowledge of both commercial projects and home design, was able to offer the Robinson family qualified advice and guidance in their home décor choices.

Etienne worked alongside Bergstreme Developers, specialists in contemporary custom-built homes (who, like Italtile, also have a presence in The Shed @ Val de Vie Estate), to create an impeccably envisioned, one-of-a-kind outdoor living area that speaks of the lively, active Robinson family personality, underpinned with a sense of timeless luxury and eternal summer.

Etienne proposed a layering of sustainable, biophilic porcelain tiles to honour the home’s proximity to wild nature, using Italtile’s exclusive Klif Silver by Italian tile masters Atlas Concorde as the ‘base canvas’. Klif is a full-bodied porcelain tile that reimagines a living stone look, with deep detail and fascinating variances. Etienne had oversight of the precision-mitered edging around the pool. Mitered edges create a superb finish (incorporating two 45-degree angles which deliver a 90-degree angle when installed); here, the end result is a seamless illusion of a horizontal tiled surface that appears to ‘spill over’ onto the vertical surface and into the pool.

In the creation of an outdoor feature wall, the Robinsons wanted ‘something different.’ Etienne helped them realise the standout ability they were dreaming of with the botanical fantasia of Jardin 01 from trendsetting Ceramica Sant’Agostino. This is a spectacular wallpaper print décor tile exclusive to Italtile, featuring a lush profusion of sun-splashed island-style foliage.

Biophilic design is a macrotrend that saw its roots strengthen during the pandemic. It’s a design movement that focuses on incorporating the natural world into the built environment to reduce stress and improve human productivity, creativity, and well-being. With this in mind, the Robinson family can look forward to years of relaxed, inspired living on their eco-chic, Italtile-style patio, and, in due course, should they wish to sell… an excellent return on their investment.