An old house with a long memory.
There comes a time in one's life when you do not want to do what you do not want to do. I reached that point after a career of more than 30 years doing the things that I was passionate about and that I loved, all the time gaining wonderful experience and knowledge. So when Olivia, our youngest child left home, it was time to do something different. The beautiful historic house where we raised the kids, at the foot of Table Mountain, in the Gardens in Cape Town, needed a new purpose. We then decided to invite guests to come and stay. There were many outbuildings that could be restored into self-catering cottages and by adding some more structures, we created InAweStays.
The WE I talk about is my husband Meyer, and me, Doreen. Meyer is a property attorney who likes nothing more than to take our guests on adventures. He swims in the cold sea many times a week, he rides his mountain bike up the mountains and he paddles in the sea or on rivers. In his kayak.
I worked in the Performing Arts for many years and then morphed into the very different world of property where I spent the next few years buying and renovating apartment blocks which morphed into joining the team at Elle Decoration as a Stylist and Travel Writer. But the publishing world was changing, and I needed a new challenge.
We have three children – Jade and her husband Max live with us, Olivia lives and works in Amsterdam and Uno and his family live in Melbourne.
We LOVE having guests from all over the world. We often become friends because we like each other and because many of our guests return multiple times.
If I have to highlight our interests, it would be food, design, travel, the outdoors, sports, people and spending time with people that we connect with.
We'd like to share our world with you.
Doreen Awe-de Waal
We moved into 34 Kamp Street on 1 February 1996 and we could not believe our luck.
Over the years we raised our children here and restored the house to suit our lives. At the time when we bought the house, we knew very little of the historic significance of the house. The house was designed by famed British Architect, Sir Herbert Baker, in 1897 as a modest rectory for St Barnabas Church next door. Over the years there were additions and renovations, some good, some not so fabulous. We strive to honour the integrity of the house and the outbuildings whilst adapting the beautiful architecture to our modern lifestyle.
The Studio was initially a garage that was added later, with the Garden Cottage as the original wood house. Olive's Cottage was the garden room where all the tools were stored. The Loft was added on in 2012 which was when our relationship with Mike Scurr of Architectural firm Rennie Scurr Adendorff started.
In 2024 we added The Jade Cottage in the garden which is a complete departure from the look of the main buildings. This pod, installed by Tiny Mods, gives us great pleasure as it affords us the luxury of hosting more families and have more bubbly children here.
We have more plans – watch this space!
It's a bit of a strange name – we know, but it is a name that has a lot of significance for us.
Firstly Doreen's maiden name is AWE – her grandfather Adolf August Paul (!!) emigrated from Leipzig in Germany at the end of the 1800's with his brother. Sadly only one son carried the name forward in South Africa and now there are no more namesakes here called Awe. It is a homage to her heritage.
In Cape Town slang, "Awe" (often written aweh, awê, or simply awe) is one of the city's most recognisable greetings. Its meaning depends on the context and tone of voice, but it generally conveys friendliness and familiarity.
Common meanings include:
- Hello! "Awe, my bru!" ("Hi, my friend!")
- How are you? "Awe?" ("How's it going?")
- I'm good / All good. In response to a greeting.
- Cool! / Nice! / Great! Expressing approval or excitement.
- See you / Cheers Sometimes used as a casual farewell.
And then it is part of the word awesome and who does not want to be awesome!
Come and see for yourself.
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