Wedged between the cliffs of Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains, False Bay marks the southwesternmost tip of South Africa. It’s a secluded paradise on the outskirts of Cape Town, famed for its deep blue waters and endless horizon. The views from the shore are hard to beat—but a new cliffside cabin has upped the ante.

For Eddie Horne, the Klein-Hangklip cabin was always a family affair. When his father purchased a 20-hectare farm in the town of Rooiels in 1997, the land came with a small wooden cabin with breathtaking views across False Bay. But in 2005, a massive fire swept through the mountains, burning down a few houses including the Horne family cabin.

The family later tried to sell the land, but its status as part of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve made things challenging: Building on the land would require an environmental impact statement, which turned most prospective buyers off.

A property developer himself, Eddie proposed that they use the foundation from the previous cabin as a workaround. If they limited construction to the existing platform, they would be free to build as they pleased—but the site is particularly exposed to winter storms, and hauling loads of construction materials uphill posed a challenge even in the best of weather.

Instead, Eddie and his parents fabricated the building out of two shipping containers with architect Raymond Rietoff of RRAD and specialist builders from Smart Mod, and then hauled it up the hill and assembled it on-site in mid-2022.

“Traditionally, it would have taken a year and a half to build, but you can do a prefab container off-site in three months,” Eddie says. “Because of Covid, there was a massive shortage of containers, but since my father works in the container industry, we had contacts and were able to get two very decent containers on short notice—we put everything together in three or four months.”

While they originally planned to use two 40-foot-long containers, the Jeep path that leads to the cabin wasn’t suited for most cars, let alone massive shipping rigs. So they cut the containers in half, widened the road, and built additional supports to accommodate a truck just large enough to bring each half to the site. Once assembled, they got to work carving a cozy oasis out of the cold metal containers.

“What makes the container so versatile is the insulation: You can insulate the inside, add drywall, and insulate it on the outside with IBR (inverted box rib) sheeting,” Eddie says. “Double insulation, and double waterproofing.”

The insulation effectively cuts heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer, and the cabin runs on solar energy. The family selected lighting to purposefully avoid light pollution, and the home’s strategically placed windows can only be opened about 6 centimeters to keep out curious baboons.

A lifelong design enthusiast, Eddie’s mother decorated the cabin herself, choosing a darker palette and woods more closely associated with the Pacific Northwest than the Cape Town coast. But the moody interiors add drama to match the view from the communal space. The open floor plan is the cabin’s main event: The two bedrooms and bathrooms are deliberately small to encourage guests to take in the view from the living and dining area, come rain or come shine.

While the recent winter in South Africa was wet and stormy, Eddie is looking forward to spending some time with his wife and their young son at the cabin this summer. He says that on a clear day, you can stand on the deck for a near-panoramic view of False Bay in all its glory. And if the winds are aligned, you might even smell its salt on the breeze.

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: RRAD Architecture / @rrad_architecture

Builder: Smart Mod

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In South Africa, a Moody Shipping Container Cabin Springs Up in Four Months Flat