This modern Zimbali home is as unique and interesting as the couple who own it. The design is contemporary and exciting, there are showstopping art pieces dotted everywhere and it houses more than 200 exceptional quality koi fish.
Graceful, vibrant and beautiful, koi fish are believed to bring success and good fortune to those who own them. Collected by royalty and celebrities the world over, koi are much more than just fish . . . they are a form of living art.
Zimbali husband and wife, Tony and Saya Pitham, are at the top of the international koi breeding game. Not only do they own the largest koi centre in Europe, Koi Water Barn, but they also opened the first and only koi-specialist company in the Middle East three years ago.
Their newly completed Zimbali home is a testament to the colourful life they’ve lead, and the passion project that is also their livelihood.
Originally from the UK, Tony comes from a long lineage of koi keepers. His grandfather was one of the first English importers of Japanese koi to the UK and when Tony’s father passed away in 1998, he took over the business. Koi dealing, it would seem, is what Tony was born to do. Not only was he the first non-Japanese Western koi dealer to win the All Japan Koi Show in 2006, but he has also been asked to judge the show on many occasions.
Saya, who heads up the marketing for Koi Water Barn in the UK, Dubai and Africa, was born in Canada and grew up in Japan. Having worked for international media companies, including MTV International in London, Saya is fully bilingual in Japanese and English.
The couple met in a nightclub in Tokyo 18 years ago. They now have three children, Aria (11), Kaya (9) and Johnny (3).
It was while he was visiting South Africa on holiday in 2001, before he met Saya, that Tony decided to buy a piece of land in Zimbali, on a whim. “I fell in love with the area. I bought the land and then sort of forgot about it,” he laughs.
While living in London, Saya and Tony decided it was time for a change. They wanted to get married and start a family and made the decision to give South Africa a go.
Guests are greeted by a massive koi pond as they enter the home. There is s tunnel running underneath the walkway, making it look like two ponds
The couple have lived happily in Zimbali since then. Tony has been successfully running his local and international koi dealing businesses and Saya, who is also passionate about health and fresh food, founded one of the first raw juice businesses on the North Coast, called Hip & Fresh.
The open plan dining room and kitchen. It is a smart house, which means the lights (and other electronics) are voice-activated
His years of experience in high-end Japanese koi breeding has also led to Tony becoming exceptionally skilled at understanding the installation and maintenance of koi ponds, which has since become the main focus of his Dubai-based business.
“There is so much more to building a koi pond than people think. Koi are collected by hobbyists around the world, many of them simply for the aesthetic appeal. Koi are living art and are meant to be shown off in a type of ‘picture frame’,” says Saya.
And thus, began the construction of their stunning Zimbali abode. “We wanted to build our house as a way of showcasing what we can do – in the Middle East, in Europe and right here in South Africa.”
Built by Shane Douglas, Doug Projects, the home was designed with a lot of input from the Pithams, who knew exactly what they wanted and had some unusual requests!
“We’ve lived in big, open plan homes and it didn’t’ work on a practical level for us. This time, we wanted our bedrooms, kitchen and entertainment areas to be completely separate from each other.”
The fully smart home is big, chic and contemporary, boasting a stunning glass entrance hall with Italian porcelain tiles leading you down the staircase towards the open plan kitchen, dining and living area.
Breaking away from the norm, the Pithams wanted their sleeping area to be slightly set away and they’ve added fun elements like a loft bed with electric blinds to their own main bedroom!
The exquisite artwork in the Pitham home can’t go unmentioned. Avid collectors of South African artwork, they have a number of stunning collector’s pieces dotted around the home, including, amongst many others, two by local artist Leigh Bisset and a piece by Friso van der Wal at the entrance.
And then, of course, there are the fish. The first thing to greet you as you arrive at the steep driveway into their cul-de-sac home is the massive koi pond (which looks like two, but has a tunnel running underneath the walkway). The pond is home to some of the biggest and most exquisite koi in the country, one of which is worth over R150 000. They have another pond, which is home to the ‘one-year-old’s’, according to Saya, just outside their back door. They have more than 200 stunning koi on their property, which is available for viewing by appointment.
Details: For more information about the koi, go to: www.koiwaterbarnafrica.com, [email protected] or call 076 544 4148. Doug Projects, Shane Douglas: 082 268 9722.
Text: Leah Shone | Photographs: Chris Allan Photo
