Johannesburg - It takes six long strides to walk from the door to the window of the main bedroom. The windows can be slid open, but be careful, there are no railings. And it’s a long, long fall down.
But the view - There are no words.
You literally are standing at the top of the City of Gold - or green as it would seem from way up there. You can see north, you can see east and even a little west. Surely there is no better vista to be found around Joburg.
This was the view that Czech Radovan Krejcir owned.
He is the man found guilty of attempted murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking, and who faces numerous murder and conspiracy-to-murder charges. He literally used to be on top of the world.
On Tuesday, auctioneers Michael James opened up 54A Kloof Road in Bedfordview, Ekurhuleni, to the media. Krejcir’s former home will be auctioned on Saturday and only those who have R100 000 upfront will be allowed in.
While there is no reserve and director Alistair McDonald would not be tempted to reveal a possible ballpark figure selling price, it will surely be in the millions as a 2012 valuation of the property was R6.9 million and the house had originally been bought seven years ago for R13m.
The property was part of a SARS preservation order, and was seized for the state to pay Krejcir’s substantial tax bill. Whoever buys the house is sure to get bang for their buck, although it might take a bit of work if they want to make the house into a home.
Because while it is nothing less than magnificent in every way, it felt clinical. There were numerous boardrooms, with projectors built into the ceilings, but no garden. The family rooms felt unlived in.
The only colour present was in a children’s room and bathroom upstairs, a painted underwater theme and racing car to lighten up the world of Krejcir’s three-year-old son.
But while the four-level home didn’t come across as child friendly, it's paradise for adults. Especially if you like your bedrooms and bathrooms with full-length windows looking out onto the world.
After travelling up a long driveway, you arrive at two double garages and steps leading up to a living room that offers a glimpse of the magnificent views to come.
From there you can choose to travel in the see-through lift, or the stairs with glass gates at the bottom of each level.
The second level had an en-suite bedroom and the main entrance area. The third level is the prettiest, with a kitchen, lounge and entertainment area focused around a rim-flow swimming pool, spa bath and outside shower.
Now empty, a large fish tank and aviary had been filled with fish and birds.
Just off the kitchen, an iron ramp, with no rails, leads to the back of the house, where another property was in the process of being built. It is even higher up than the main house, with a view even more superb.
The final level of the main home is where the family lived. Aside from the main bedroom and child’s room, there is a third bedroom with, ironically, a picture of a fingerprint.
A painting of a stranded ship with lightning zooming across a darkened sky hung in the main bedroom. It was the only decoration other than a large king-size bed which stood in the middle of the enormous room. Two walk-in cupboards, as big as bedrooms themselves, stood beyond. It took four days to clear them of personal belongings, which are now all in storage, paid for by the Krejcir family.
And beyond stood the bathroom, as big as the main bedroom itself. A stone, sunken bath in the middle facing the windows, which one imagines once stood open for Krejcir to purvey the city whose underbelly he ran for a while, lying below him.
Now he is in a small cell, and there are no views from there.
The Star
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