Pengilly House, widely known as the Clifton Iron Man House, is one of South Africa’s most distinctive modern residences, set high on Nettleton Ridge above the Atlantic Seaboard. Designed by Peerutin Architects, the home is guided by a clear architectural ethos: to bring the outside in. Inspired by John Lautner’s iconic Sheats–Goldstein Residence and the expressive modernism of late-1960s and 1970s California, this four-level villa occupies an exceptionally rare triple lot in Clifton, allowing for scale, openness, and a central landscaped lawn within a dense hillside context. Sculpted from board-form concrete, glass, marble, and stone, its flowing, curvilinear forms appear to float above the mountain base, opening to sweeping 270-degree ocean views while integrating seamlessly with the rugged terrain of Lion’s Head. The result is a futuristic yet elemental residence where architecture, landscape, and atmosphere exist as one continuous experience.
- Name: Clifton Iron Man House
- Bedrooms: 7
- Bathrooms: 11
- Size: Est ~1,605 m² (17,276 sq. ft.)
- Lot: Est ~2,118 m² (22,797 sq. ft.)
- Built: 2015
Perched high above the Atlantic Seaboard in South Africa on Nettleton Ridge, Pengilly House, often referred to as the Clifton Iron Man House, is a rare architectural landmark in Cape Town, occupying an extraordinary triple lot with expansive ocean views. In a dense hillside setting where most homes are confined to narrow single plots, this 60-metre-wide site allows for an expansive four-level residence with an uncommon flat grass courtyard carved into the heart of the property. Designed by Peerutin Architects in collaboration with Interior Designers Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, the home was conceived over a five-plus-year build as a bold reinterpretation of late-1960s and 1970s California modernism. Drawing clear influence from John Lautner’s sculptural houses, the architecture embraces exposed board-form concrete, marble, glass walls and sinuous curves, resulting in a futuristic yet deeply grounded residence that brings the outside in at every turn.
The design responds directly to the dramatic topography of Lion’s Head, splitting the villa into two wings to accommodate existing rock formations along the ridge. The lower sandstone-clad levels form a grounded, mountain-like base housing ancillary and support spaces, while the upper floors float above in sweeping concrete ribbons that echo the undulating coastline. Spanning four levels and linked by two separate elevators and a glass-floored passage, the house includes three pools, a fully equipped gym and spa, a private cinema, and a 12-car garage with a motorised turntable. A dramatic sunken lounge, slanted glazing and refined copper detailing recall the glamour of jet-age airport terminals, while curvilinear upper levels dissolve visually into the ocean horizon, ensuring the substantial scale of the home recedes quietly into its natural backdrop.
Living spaces unfold with cinematic restraint, from the expansive open-plan main level that flows seamlessly onto the central lawn and entertainment pavilion, to the elevated infinity pool, spa and sunken bar hovering above the landscape like a green lawn in the sky. Private bedroom suites and independent guest pods offer quiet retreat, each oriented toward sweeping 270-degree views of the Atlantic and Clifton’s sandy coves. Raw concrete, timber and terrazzo are balanced with bespoke interiors to create an atmosphere that reveals itself slowly, precise, calm and intentional. Carved into stone and open to air and sky, Pengilly House is a sculptural modernist statement that integrates scale, privacy and presence in one of the most exclusive residential settings in the world, redefining what contemporary luxury living on the Atlantic Seaboard can be.
In an article on Dec 14, 2021, MiNDFOOD wrote:
High up on Cape Town’s gorgeous Nettleton Ridge, hugging the craggy mountainside and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, is a vision that might make you think for a moment that you’d entered a parallel universe. You could be looking at Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion from the Iron Man franchise or a Bond villain’s lair, or even something out of The Jetsons.
And you wouldn’t be far off: this Clifton house, belonging to mining banker Lloyd Pengilly and designed with crucial input from his son Hanno, has its roots in the same US west coast architecture that inspired these filmic fantasies, particularly the work of John Lautner. Perhaps the most famous of Lautner’s designs is Palm Springs’ Elrod House, which is featured in James Bond’s Diamonds Are Forever. Another, the Sheats-Goldstein House, pops up in The Big Lebowski.
- Architect: Peerutin Karol Architects
- Interiors: Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens (SRLC)
- Photography: Adam Letch, Mathew Van Niekerk, Johann Jordaan
- Owners: Lloyd Pengilly – Chairman of Qoracapital and former Chairman of JP Morgan Africa Metals and Minerals division (2025)
- Owners: Hanno Pengilly – Former CEO of Ncondezi Energy (2025)
- Last Sold Price: 48,310,000 ZAR – (2010)
- Location: 151 Kloof Rd, Clifton, Cape Town, 8005, South Africa
