Inside Kenya’s most luxurious homes

The housing landscape is exhibiting an interesting trajectory; although homeowners prefer to congregate together into little sustainable (gated) communities, they still crave privacy as individuals but without losing complete touch with their neighbours.

In an earlier interview with this paper some months back, Ben Woodhams, managing director of Knight Frank noted that the rise of luxury homes indicates the growing class of the uber-rich who are expressing their confidence in the country by investing in these homes.

“Developers are targeting the upper end of the market, which knows what they want and are quick to close transactions,” he said.   

Homes have become the new currency, the greatest expression of affluence. The wealthy want to recede and disappear back to their luxury abodes that present the trappings of their lifestyles.

A research a couple of years ago by estate agents Knight Frank and Citi Private Wealth Fund found that Nairobi had the best prime residential market in the world. The high-end residential bubble continues to rise, despite naysayers regularly predicting its doom.

We looked at a few exclusive homes in the country.

HOUSE NO 3, LONE TREE VILLAS
Rosslyn, Off Limuru Road

A classic white Cape Dutch-style home  designed by Tom Bowman with interiors styled by Karen Baillie, Pinks Interior Designs.

This is an elegant five-bedroomed, well-proportioned house with casement windows allowing the rooms to be airy and light. House No 3 sits on five acres with nine other beautifully designed homes with lush, tranquil gardens planted with banana, acacia and jacaranda trees.

Architecturally, the house cleverly suits all needs – from quiet private terraces, accessed by double French Doors opening from each room, to a larger covered party area with dhow-wood bar and American Spa hot tub.  

Inside, each room is uniquely dressed in a chic contemporary style with the drawing room and sitting room each having a dressed stone fireplace. The study is cosy and warm. Mahogany flooring runs through the ground floor. 

There are also some special design statements – the addition of a master suite on the first floor affords a star-shaped pitched ceiling, which is also present in the master bedroom.

A large ensuite has a signature freestanding slipper bath over which a cut glass chandelier hangs. All the ensuites are tiled to a high spec with top-of-the-range sanitary ware.

There is a cottage-style dogleg staircase and all internal doors are of Shaker-style proportions with good quality ironmongery. The front door is made of solid bamber coffee wood with doom wood panels.

The interior décor is inspired by a very up-market smart European look – accent walls in the drawing and dining room have been carefully wallpapered while key statements are in the form of Kenyan artwork and artifacts. The kitchen is bespoke.

The design is the epitome of warmth and charm, meeting every need possible from a busy professional couple to a lively family.

MAGNOLIA HILLS ESTATE

Kitusuru

This was the talk of town most of last week, especially House number 12, but its story started way back in 2005 when a developer bought 24 acres of land in Kitusuru, near the International School of Kenya and developed this architectural genius.

Back then, that land was going for about Sh2.3million an acre - now the price hovers around the Sh70-90million an acre mark.

Built as an American suburb, the 40 houses are enclosed behind an electrified wall, fortified by 1.5m of no-man’s land, rigged with cameras, floodlights and motion detectors. The interior gates are operated via intercoms from the houses or by remote control.

The developer and architect, Mehraz Ehsani also designed The Tribe Hotel (which made it to the Conde Nast Traveller’s HOT LIST 2010) and The Village Market (his architectural design won the coveted International Council of Shopping Centers’ Design Award).

Listen to Mehraz: “Over centuries, function has always been emphasised in design, but to me, function is a given. You can’t design a bicycle that doesn’t serve its core purpose of movement, can you? But what our designs seek to embody is delight. That’s the beauty that we bring to these projects.”

The design of Magnolia Hill, as with all his designs, is familiar by how it takes advantage of light.

“Our designs pay attention to the positive weather of Kenya, the beautiful greenery, the intensity of our rains and the sunny days. So we tend to go for large amounts of glass to allow special light into the buildings.” Mehraz, an Iranian by descent, previously lectured on the relationship of architecture and engineering at the University of California and at the University of Nairobi for 12 years before leaving to design a number of projects.

Most of the Magnolia Hill houses were sold out at the conceptualisation stage, when they just existed as bits and bytes on a computer, except for one unit that is still available.

In 1995, when it was shown to prospective clients, a unit was going for about Sh25 million but now the price is so high Mehraz says it’s more sentimental than monetary.

House 12 is particularly special. And it was what was trending most of this past week. It’s a family home that is surrounded by water.

Like an island on land. It has an art gallery, a gym, a spa treatment room, state-of-the-art fitted kitchen finished in black granite and black glass with cappuccino machines, microwaves, fridge and oven, a Jacuzzi and fountains.

The floors are clad in granite and bamboo, covering over 12,000sq ft. It has two kitchens and a library that slides away to expose the den and a dining area. The living room is fitted with a sound surround system.

Up the granite and mahogany stairs, the bedrooms have a Jacuzzi and there is an office on the third floor. Fireplaces are scattered in the house.
The community centre has a gym, waterfalls, indoor heated pool, steam rooms, children’s playground and a sauna.

Building materials were sourced both locally and abroad, with the bulk coming from China. And not just anywhere in China, according to Mehraz.

“We only bought the very best from China, for instance, the company that supplied us with the materials for the interior is the same company that makes the interiors for Mercedes.”

And he says the demand for similar high-end housing projects continues to rise.

“We must have at least 10 calls a month asking for houses like Magnolia. If we developed two more Magnolias, I’m confident people will buy them immediately.”

SCANDINAVIAN HOME
Muthaiga North

The owner bought this two-acre piece of land back in 1999 for Sh10 million. The 5-bedroom house is surrounded by natural spring water with five layers of 37mm thick bulletproof glass.

All the bedrooms are ensuite with walk-in wardrobes. There are two kitchens, one kitchen yard doubling as a children’s play area and a laundry room complete with washing machines.

The security doors are fitted with high-end German technology, and the house rigged with Bang & Olufsen audio features. Décor is clinical minimalist, an open Scandinavian style.

Outside is a salt-water, heated swimming pool. There is a patio and a barbeque area. Beyond is a Japanese garden with natural spring water, four ponds (three are fresh water, one is salt water) each with different fish species like gold fish, the Japanese fish, Koi, tilapia (to feast on the mosquitoes) and a variety of seawater breeds.

There is a Grannie cottage, a staff apartment and a hide-out cabin, all self-contained. At the bottom of the property are two bridges over the Ruaka River.

HOGMEAD RESIDENCE
Langata/Karen

It’s touted as one of the priciest properties in the market today. It’s owned by Fuzz and Bimbi Dyer - you might know them as the owners of the exotic Manda Bay Resort in Lamu and the unrivalled Borana Lodge in Laikipia.

Hogmead was turned into a 12-room boutique consisting of six large en-suite bedrooms, six en-suite garden rooms and 12 staff rooms.

When it was opened for business, a room would set you back Sh42,000 a night (with a breathtaking view of Ngong Hills). Because it shares a fence with the Giraffe Centre, it’s not uncommon to see a giraffe staring into the compound.