Craig Port At Home


Who does one of SA’s most talented and stylish men ask to help him decorate his newly acquired Bakoven home? His best friend. Who also just happens to be one of SA/s most talented and stylish men. The home belongs to Craig Port, fashion entrepreneur extraordinaire, CEO of Kangol and X&O and Style’s Man of the Year 2000. The designer is Boyd Ferguson of Durban-based Cecile & Boyd’s, a leading light on the local décor scene whose portfolio includes hot spots like Singita as well as some of the loveliest private residences in the world. Born in the same week, in the same town, Craig and Boyd have a lot in common – most notably their passion for design and the way they love to party. They met at university – Craig was going to be an accountant and Boyd a lawyer (but that’s another story) – and have remained firm friends for over 17 years, despite living in different cities. (A fact that will change as Boyd recently bought a home in Cape Town, and has opened an office there.)

We meet at Craig’s new house overlooking the Atlantic, on a spectacularly beautiful Cape Town morning, when the air is so still that the palm trees hardly whisper and the ocean is so sparkling it seems strewn with diamante. On the slopes of Table Mountain, the house is cradled by the Twelve Apostles under a wide African sky. It’s not difficult to see why Craig, who came across it by chance, ‘was completely seduced’. It was time to leave his legendary Cape Town city-centre loft – a vast open-plan space often featured in the world’s glossiest magazines and renowned for both is uber-chic décor and Craig’s outrageous parties. ‘I was trying to reassess where I wanted to live and what I wanted, but I couldn’t visualise it. I knew that once I found it, I would feel it. And I did’ he adds.

What did Boyd think when he first saw the house, I ask. ‘He was horrified’, laughs Craig. ‘It was shocking’ adds Boyd. ‘Turquoise chintz draped and leather lounge suites, paneled bars and all closed up. It’s my job to see potential but I was horrified. The workmanship was really shabby and Craig had to put a lot of effort into fixing things. It was such a surprise because the houses he’d been looking at were these phenomenal monuments in Higgovale; place that had won architectural awards in the 60’s. But ultimately Craig was more interested in the lifestyle that the position offered than the house itself.’ The choice of house may have been surprising, but there was no question the Boyd would do the design. ‘Boyd is someone I trust completely, not just because of his talent and expertise but because he knows me so well. I knew he wouldn’t hold back,’ says Craig.

‘The fact that it’s so lovely turned out as a surprise,’ says Boyd. ‘Yes,’ adds Craig. And for a moment, I believe them. As if you could put this duo together and end up with anything short of fabulous. And fabulous it is. At first glance, I too am seduced. Indoor areas flow seamlessly into outdoor rooms, both because of the colour palette and furniture. ‘Inside comfort outside is the big idea,’ says Boyd. ‘It makes sense. Why should outdoor furniture be hard and unyielding?’ Boyd changed the exterior from ‘a typical ugly, white Atlantic seaboard cliché’ to a shade of grey that blends with the mountains. Throughout the house, the colour palette complements the natural environment. There are the straw and flaxen colours that Boyd loves, with grey and white used as basics, and touches of blue and green to reflect the hues of surrounding sea, sky and greenery. Most of the fabrics are plain in colour, but textured for interest. Texture is very much part of Boyd’s signature. ‘I love plain colours and less pattern. I like to stand back and see the whole room as pattern. For me, the things that create form in a room are the pattern rather than a floral or geometric print.’

‘It was about creating a 20th-century classic look,’ says Boyd, ‘but very today, with bits of quirk and a quiet elegant palette that was just about making Craig feel comfortable. And glamorous, because I knew he’d like that,’ he adds. ‘Not many people can decorate a place and make it feel like a home,’ says Craig. And I can see what he means. The interior doesn’t hit you between the eyes so much as make you want take off your shoes, slip into something more glamorous and take to the daybed with a novel and a glass of champagne. It looks so effortless, but closer inspection reveals how clever the ideas are, and how painstaking the attention to detail has been. If there’s a chair here, it’s because of the view: if there’s a table there, it’s because it’s just the right spot to place a drink. The CD’s are at chin height. The TV has been placed in front of a window, not against a wall, so Craig can take in the view and watch a video at the same time. Plus it’s in the main living room. ‘I hate TV rooms,’ says Boyd. ‘Why shouldn’t you relax in your best space?’ Boyd even repacked the kitchen to get it working in the most practical way. ‘For me design is not just the pretty stuff. It’s salt and pepper the right place, and that’s what beautiful homes are made of – comfortable answers to problems.’ (I have to suppress the urge to take him home and let him loose on my cupboards.)


Boyd’s coup de grace, however, has to be the transformation of the furniture. Craig’s expert eye meant that he had collected quirky, individual pieces over the years. Boyd took all my stuff away, and gave it back to me in a different form, he says. Big square deco armchairs have been slip-covered in bleached jute. I call them car coats,’ says Boyd. ‘They’re meant to be baggy, beach casual. It’s very nice. You’ve got this extremely strong shaped chair with the contrast of the homemade fabric.’ Chairs that were bought for R75 when Craig was 20 look as if they’ve just stepped off a light from the Milan Furniture Fair in their new varnish and upholstery. The contemporary looking daybed that I admire turns out to have had several lives. It was Craig’s pine bed in his student days, then a coffee table with white vinyl cushions in the loft, and now it’s an extravagant ottoman in flax-coloured linen. ‘The thrill of the place is in the reinvention of all my things,’ says Craig. ‘My friends come in here and they still feel that it’s my home.’ A few new pieces were custom-made. Like the light fitting above the dining table, which Boyd designed, and the green couch and ottoman in the living room commissioned from Wunders.

Craig was the model client throughout the process, ‘closely involved in decisions and details and prepared to take chances’ says Boyd. But when everything was ready, Boyd moved in a kicked him out. ‘The worst three days of my life,’ says Craig. I was knocking on the door begging to be let in.’ ‘Yes,’ adds Boyd with obvious glee, ‘he was saying “please let me in, I won’t look”. But my business partner, Paul van den Berg, and I like the fun of an impactful hand-over on the day. We prefer clients to leave us to do our magic rather than seeing the process and all the tucking and trimming and touching up. It’s not just a case of look at the plan and do it. You can’t believe how much happens spontaneously on site.’ The hand-over took place in the evening, by candlelight with champagne on ice. ‘It was great,’ says Craig. After being locked out, he was knocked out. It’s as simple as that.