The Sentinel Cabin, Cyphia Close Cabins, Hout Bay

Stay a unique, architect-designed 2 bedroomed wooden cabin with magnificent outdoor spaces in Hout Bay. Enjoy incredible sea & mountain views, surrounded by beaches, sand dunes, mountains & fynbos, close to shops & the CBD. High speed internet and back up inverter. This is our personal home and our animals may also be onsite. Also not a secluded cabin; we have 2 small pods onsite for rental. Please read our full listing. Please enquire on costs for exclusive use of whole property for events. The space Our home is intended to carry a small footprint and be experienced by guests as cabin perched in the natural surroundings of mountains and fynbos, situated at Cyphia Close Cabins You will not find a property like this anywhere in Cape Town. It is a loft build with steel, glass and wood, and has a sea and mountain views from every room including the scullery! The house comprises a bedroom and en suite bathroom downstairs (the Elephant Room), along with a kitchen, scullery, dining room, lounge and large outdoor deck. Upstairs is the main bedroom en suite (the Shark Room) and a mezzanine chill area with work-from-home office and 2 additional beds organised in a bunk bed style. Guests have the use of an open plan hanging rail and 2 open shelves in the 2 bedrooms and 4-5 shelves in the cupboard in the study/mezzanine area (which has limited space). The bunk beds need to share one of the 2 bathrooms. Note this house is not intended to comfortably accommodate 6 adults, especially for stays of more than a day or two or groups who require lots of space. The bunk beds are best suited to children and have less privacy and space, or for bookings where a third or fourth adult require their own space. Guests should also note this our own personal home and not a holiday house or exclusive air bnb. It is not possible to pack our personal items away every time we accommodate guests. The downside is less cupboard space and personal items on display or in drawers especially in the bedrooms and bathrooms. The upside is an exceptionally well kitted out kitchen with small extras availalbe (spices, sauces, condiments etc) and a homely, lived in, warm space. The bar is not for guest consumption! The property boasts external cameras, linked alarm system and electric fencing all around as well as remote-controlled smart access. The house itself is very secure, with a solid wooden front door, steel sliding doors and shatterproof extra thick glass. Solid wooden bedroom doors have been reinforced internally with steel and wooden shutters in the bedroom are lockable so you can sleep with the doors open. We have a basement facility where guests have access to a laundry facility, additional wood and fibre line (for resets). Laundry, wood and any other services are subject to availability and require additional payment via SnapScan or credit card payment on an honesty basis. Note the basement has a camera for security purposes. We also have a mobile spa available, where you can arrange spa treatments from a mobile spa in the privacy of your pod, or on your deck. The magical garden and outdoor spaces are a highlight of this property, designed by a talented local garden designer to be entirely indigenous and mostly local fynbos growing in this specific area. It boasts a beautiful natural rock eco pool, outdoor sitting and eating areas and an outdoor firepit, with endless views of the mountains and sea from various angels, and abundant birdlife and local wildlife (spot the frogs, mongeese and caracals). The garden area includes a kitchen garden, composting section, rainwater harvesting, walkways and paths, and has been designed with long term sustainability in mind, particularly with Cape Town being a water scarce environment. There is direct access to the Sandy Bay Dunes Nature Reserve via a back gate on the property, where guests can walk about 200m up the hill, onto the sand dunes and down to Sandy Bay and across to Llundudno along the hiking paths, as well as onto the Shipwreck Trail. The top of the dunes are popular with groups and families for picnics. If you’re a surfer, Sandy Bay and Llundudno are both in walking distance. If you’re a family with kids and dogs, welcome to heaven. This place is a paradise for hikers, trail runners and cyclists, and even the less fit can enjoy an almost flat walk (from the top of the dunes) along the contour of The Sentinel, with incredible views across to Camps Bay, the 12Apostles and Lions Head. This location literally cannot be beaten. There are 2 other small pods on the property, which may be occupied by ourselves or other guests. Should you wish to have the exclusive use of the entire property (either to book all 3 accommodations, or just the cabin but have no one else on site) please send us an enquiry on availability and pricing. We have 2 feisty Boston terriers and a super tranquil small rescue collie who understand the property as theirs. We cannot control them 24/7 and they may come to visit and sometimes bark at new guests. If you do not like dogs please enquire about if we will likely be on site or not (we usually are) as this property may not be for you. Please also note our cat resides on the property and may come into the main house if we are not onsite although will likely stay in the basement and garden. We also have chickens onsite. Guest access The whole house at the main cabin The eco pool, main deck with braai and garden 1 parking onsite The eco pool is reserved for cabin guests and not permitted for pod guests. The fire pit area is for the use of the Reservoir Pod if there are guests in residence. Guests are requested to consider the privacy of other guests at the pods and note that they are also able to access the food garden and path to the reserve. Other things to note - South Africa experiences load shedding from time to time, meaning the electricity is turned off in managed schedules to assist with maintenance on old infrastructure. We have back ups on the fibre and internet lines, gas stoves and a back up light with phone charger in each house. The gate has a basic battery up. Please note that loadshedding, other electrical outages and water outages do happen from time to time, are ebeyond our control and we can’t take responsibility for any issues caused by this. - The house does not have any curtains due to the incredible views - Privacy in the bedrooms is managed by slatted shutters and bathroom windows are frosted - The shutters will not keep out the light at sun rise. Sleeping masks are available. - The living areas are private to the north using shutters but along the pedestrian road of the nature reserve on the south. On sunny weekend days and during holidays, people tend to walk past and gape at the house. Trees and shrubs for screening have been planted and do assist but will take time to become fully established. The house is intended to create a feeling of living outdoors while being indoors. This isn’t for everyone so please rather do not rent this house if this isn’t your cup of tea. - The Reservoir Pod is situated on top of the reservoir, behind a row of growing trees. The pod faces the sea and depending on where on the deck you are, may look up to the fynbos pod’s deck or the main house deck. Blinds keep the sun out and provide privacy while still being able to see the view. . - The Fynbos Pod is situated at the top of the hill on the property, with magnificent views of the mountains and sea. While the deck, pool and outdoor areas are visible from the pod, guests are drawn to the views and can make use of their blinds. The trees around the deck will provide full privacy in time. - Cape Town is known for being windy at times, in both summer and winter. It can be particularly windy up here on the mountain and the house is built of steel, glass and wood so it can be noisy during high winds - The cabins have French press (plunger) coffee available only. No on site coffee machines because the value chain is environmentally unfriendly and also because it is an opportunity to buy local from the cafés down the road. - Regular or occasional servicing can be arranged, but is subject to availability. An additional fee of R300 for a half day applies. - Due to Cape Town being a high risk water area, there are no regular baths on this property and guests are asked to use water sparingly at all times as only the garden, eco pool and outdoor wood fired bath are serviced from rain water (winter only) - The eco pool is a natural rock pool with no fencing and no cover. The cabin is up a short hill and the deck has unprotected sides with drop offs of around 1m on some sides. The is also a sharp drop off out of the sliding windows (which has a balustrade). - Our cabins are not suitable for children under 10 or anyone under the influence of alcohol or any other substances. Anyone using the property needs to exercise suitable caution and does so at their own risk. We will not be liable for any injuries. - We have 2 feisty Boston terriers and a super tranquil small rescue collie who understand the property as theirs. We cannot control them 24/7 and they may come to visit and sometimes bark at new guests. If you do not like dogs please enquire about if we will likely be on site or not (we usually are) as this property may not be for you.