Durban - Eddie and Jennifer Crawford have a lust for life. They love travelling, making the most of opportunities, and living each day to the fullest.
The couple love their gorgeous home in The Gardens estate in La Lucia and the peace, privacy and security it offers.
In fact, they fell so in love with the five-bedroom, triple-storey house five years ago that they bought it, despite the intention to downscale from their Umhlanga home.
Being in the publishing industry, the Crawfords, who used to own Wildside travel magazine, are always chasing deadlines, and so needed to live in a calm and serene environment to counter the stress. Eddie is a photographer and Jennifer a writer.
The couple work and travel together, still producing regular features for Wildside, and compiling travel content on request for websites, blogs, and social media.
“We are both quite deadline oriented in terms of publishing, so wanted a home that could give us serenity and calm. We liked the privacy of this place, the security, and the fact that we can keep pets here. We also have a sea view – which is quite rare in an estate, and the serenity of the forest behind us.”
The couple made minor alterations to the house, with the biggest change being the exterior colour. They opted for one that was not on the estate’s official colour palette, as they wanted a more earth-based, grey colour, which blended in with the nature round them. They then approached the estate board for permission.
“We showed them samples of the colour and motivated why we felt it would work and, eventually, they said it was so nice that they would not only allow us to paint our home that colour, but would introduce it to their colour palette,” Jennifer said.
In terms of interior colours, she said it was just as important that these colours were soothing, and that when selecting colours from nature, one “just can’t go wrong”.
In addition to having a home which reflects the serenity they seek in their home life, the couple’s home décor is particularly personal. In addition to framed photographs they have taken themselves, Eddie said they bring back many things from their travels, and frame them as décor and wall art pieces too.
Jennifer added: “When we travel we end up with lots of souvenirs. We are not crazy about lots of stuff, so we incorporate it into our décor.”
A particularly eye-catching piece is a painting in their lounge of themselves and their three children. It was painted by a street artist from a Polaroid photo, while on their travels. Another décor arrangement is made up of natural items, including baobab and kiaat seed pods brought back from Botswana, and a San purse from Namibia.
“Most of our travelling has been in KZN and East Africa, and the kids came with us. But right now we are in that transition stage of living and are looking forward to doing some long-term travelling on our own. We want to go to Indonesia, so Eddie can surf and take some photographs and I can do yoga and some more writing. We are looking at going sometime this year, perhaps around July when it is summer.”
Eddie, who also runs a land surveying company, said the time was right for them to travel.
“The kids are out of the house, so we can get away now. We do love them, but we want to go and travel on our own for a bit.
“We will sell the house and possibly rent somewhere else until we go. Maybe we will sell it fully furnished, or maybe we will put our furniture into storage.”
But as much as the couple is looking forward to this next stage in their lives, they will miss their home and their favourite spots, including the upstairs patio, where they spend most of their time relaxing, and the braai area at the back.
Whether they do ever buy another property, and where that property would be, they have no idea, for with the opportunities ahead of them and their zest for adventure, it is anyone’s guess as to where life will take them.
Bonny Fourie, Independent HOME