Johannesburg couturier Howard Green is well known for the exquisite detail of his gowns, from their hand-stitched beadwork to the perfection of their fit. He’s known for being a perfectionist, a stickler for craftsmanship, and he’s prepared to lavish time and care on a design until he’s happy with it. It’s an ethos that spills over into his home – a beautifully proportioned apartment in Killarney’s Whitehall Court.

Whitehall Court is arguably the city’s finest example of neoclassical colonial architecture. It was built in the early 1920s for maverick New York entrepreneur Isidore William Schlesinger, who made a vast fortune in South Africa from insurance, film, property and hotels. (He also built the majestic Polana Hotel in Maputo.) Schlesinger’s own vast apartment in Whitehall took up half a level.

The interior of Howard’s apartment more than lives up to the promise of the pristine white exterior of the building. He’s built up a remarkable collection of furniture and art over a quarter of a century, painstakingly selecting design pieces that have struck him. Nothing is purely utilitarian. I’d rather live in a bare room than have something that I don’t like, quite honestly,” he says.

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