BORN ON THE WING OF A DREAM

We embarked on our adult life journey as two professionals making things happen in the economic hub of the country that is Johannesburg. Brad practised as a corporate interior designer for 26 years before our children were born, whilst Carina practiced as an attorney. We lived in Greenside, Jhb and we commuted to and from work for roughly 3 hours a day, spending our working hours primarily in Sandton.

In 2011 our daughter Clea was born and by this time we had bought some property in a conservancy area on the western outskirts of Johannesburg and had started turning a dilapidated property into our own sanctuary. We were to see over the years that it was also a sanctuary for others. Brad designed and built a fully off-grid house and we moved into the new house in 2012, a few months before our youngest, Adam, was born.

We lived happily ever after… until we decided it was time again for new adventures.

THE PERFECT TIME FOR A

In 2020, just before the world changed, we bought property in Graaff Reinet in the Great Karoo and have expanded our plans to share our new sanctuary with others in need of fresh, clean air, big skies and quiet space. And so Light Shade Mountain was born.

One of our passions is behaving responsibly towards the planet. Through first-hand experience and knowledge, Brad also designs off-grid homes and other off-grid and sustainable solutions.  All these properties are/will be off the grid in the same way we have lived in Gauteng for the last decade, with the addition of a wind turbine to generate power, over and above the solar power we have been using since 2012. Our design philosophy is to use passive design as much as possible and to ensure that structures not only use any external services but that the structures themselves are fully recyclable. And never fear, our philosophy takes all aspects of modern living into account!

Collectively and in collaboration with our original HQ, so to speak, we have also taken ourselves on the adventure of trying new things, from paragliding to soap making and we look forward to sharing these adventures with you and for you to explore our ever unfolding world.

TRAGEDY STRUCK, BUT

Since writing our story tragedy struck our family. Our mother, wife, best friend and soul mate, Carina, passed away. Brad, Clea and Adam now continue realising our shared vision and carving out a new life with the beautiful memories she left us with.

We wish to share our dream with you more than ever and look forward to welcoming you to our new vision.