St Albans

THE BRIEF:

Bishopscourt is where Cape Town's most significant addresses have always been, wide streets, large properties, north-facing mountain views, the kind of quiet that requires real distance from the city's noise. Oakhurst had been looking for an opportunity here for a while. When the right one came, we moved quickly.

The title deed structure for the site was complex. After working through the options, the answer was straightforward: one home on each erf. A single freehold residence on each of the two sub-divided erven gave each purchaser a clean, independent title, but that was only part of the reasoning. Greater densification would have compromised the very things that make this address worth developing: the scale, the views, the sense of space the site provides. Two homes, done properly, was the right answer.

We designed two homes of notably different scales: a triple-storey house of over 1 000 m² on a 2 001 m² erf, and a single-storey home of around 400 m² on a 918 m² erf — different in size, identical in standard. Both sold within ten days of going to market.

St Albans is under construction, with completion scheduled for Q3/Q4 2026.

THE SITE:

The site sits at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, naturally sloped in a way that gives both homes their own close-up, north-facing mountain views without competing with each other. The Liesbeek River runs nearby. Established trees provide privacy from the street and between neighbours. Sunlight is abundant, the aspect sees to that.

The freehold structure we established ensures each purchaser holds a clean individual title, with no shared body corporate or common property to manage.

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD:

Bishopscourt is bounded by Kirstenbosch to one side and some of the city's oldest residential properties to the other. The streets are lined with trees that predate most of the homes, and properties are generous by any standard. It is a suburb where the address itself carries weight, not because of any particular amenity, but because of what it is: a serious address in a beautiful setting.

It sits within easy reach of the Southern Suburbs' schools, UCT, and the M3.

THE STANDARD:

Both homes at St Albans are developed to the full Oakhurst standard, with specifications appropriate to their respective scales. The triple-storey home offers volume and vertical separation across its levels, serviced by a lift. The single-storey home provides the ease of a level-access layout at a generous footprint without compromising its mountain views. Both include engineered wood flooring, inverter systems, and bespoke joinery.

Purchasers were offered a comprehensive schedule of optional extras, allowing them to personalise finishes, fittings, and specifications before construction was complete.