Don’t move, improve!

While many architects prefer a blank slate, Johannesburg-based Minky Lidchi loves renovating. Even as a student, for her fourth-year architecture project, she chose to measure up old farm buildings.

Minky bought her house in Fresnaye, Cape Town in 2011 after years of scouting for a modest freestanding property in a good location. With an increasing number of clients in Cape Town, it made sense to invest in a second property in the city that could also be rented out.

While initial plans were to double the floor space of the compact 1930s home and maximise the views by adding a level, practical