Vanessa and George Roumeguere built Manzili House on their own family land in Karen, a leafy Nairobi suburb at the foot of the Ngong Hills. To build it, they brought artisans up from Lamu Island. The coral-stone spirit of that coast has come inland with them. The garden around the house is quiet, and Nairobi National Park, the Giraffe Centre and the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust all lie close by.
The coral-stone spirit of that coast has come inland with them.
There is a personal history here that no hotel can replicate. George’s mother was a French anthropologist who married a Maasai. He grew up in Kenya inside a large extended family, and the house carries that grounding in every room, a sense of place rooted in a real life and not in a brochure. It is a family home first, opened to guests, never built for them.
Expansive white living spaces open onto a central courtyard and swimming pool. Light crosses the courtyard all day and settles on the pool. Timber runs underfoot, cool stone through the bathrooms, and the design draws on the Swahili architecture of Lamu, a UNESCO World Heritage site off Kenya’s coast. The furniture and decor are handcrafted by Kenyan makers, so the craft you live among is local.
Light crosses the courtyard all day and settles on the pool.
Breakfast is included, and the in-house chef cooks light lunches, dinners and Swahili suppers to order. There is no fixed menu. Kenyan dishes sit alongside international ones, and the day’s cooking follows whatever guests feel like, served in the dining room, out in the garden, or on the rooftop terrace of Manzili Ndoto. Book a single bedroom, or take a whole house.
Manzili House is really two houses sharing a courtyard and pool. The main house holds four en-suite bedrooms and sleeps up to eight. Manzili Ndoto is the private two-bedroom option beside it, self-contained, with rooms named Ndoto and Amani, its own rooftop terrace for sundowners and space for four. Booked on its own it suits two couples or a small family, and combined with the main house the two can host a larger group without losing the feel of a private home. Every bedroom has a private veranda, facing the courtyard and pool or the gardens beyond.
Vanessa and George, along with their son Louie, sometimes host guests themselves, and a dedicated butler looks after everything else. Vanessa knows Nairobi’s creative scene well, and introduces guests to the galleries and to the makers whose work fills the house. It is the kind of access that comes from living and building here, not from a concierge desk. The garden draws birdlife through the day, and at dusk bush babies appear on the rooftops. Evenings settle around a crackling fireplace.
The garden draws birdlife through the day, and at dusk bush babies appear on the rooftops.
The Giraffe Centre is a short drive away, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Karen Blixen Museum both around ten minutes off, and Nairobi National Park close enough that a lion’s call can carry on a still night. Wilson Airport, the hub for light-aircraft transfers into the Mara and Kenya’s northern conservancies, is fifteen to twenty minutes away, and Jomo Kenyatta International a longer run across the city. All of which makes Manzili House a natural first or last night on a wider Kenyan itinerary, rather than a destination in its own right.
Days can be built around a game drive in Nairobi National Park, or elephant feeding at the Sheldrick orphanage. Afternoons go to Karen’s galleries and artisan workshops, or to very little at all, with in-house massage and yoga arranged on request and the pool and the rooftop terrace anchoring the quieter hours in between. Six bedrooms across the two houses can be taken one at a time or all at once, which is what lets the place work equally for a couple on their first night in Kenya and for a family who want the run of it.
accommodation
Six en-suite bedrooms across two houses, all with private verandas. The main house has four bedrooms sleeping up to eight; Manzili Ndoto has two, Ndoto and Amani, at 36 square metres each, sleeping four. Bathrooms are finished in cool stone with a bath or shower. Bookable by single room or as an exclusive-use house.
activities
Game drives run in nearby Nairobi National Park, with elephant feeding at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and giraffe encounters at the Giraffe Centre close by. The Karen Blixen Museum, local galleries and artisan workshops fill cultural days. In-house massage, yoga and rooftop sundowners at Manzili Ndoto round out quieter afternoons.
conservation
Every piece of furniture and decor in the house is handcrafted by Kenyan artisans, and the architectural elements were built in direct collaboration with makers from Lamu Island. The conservation link runs through the family: their Maasai Mara operation works with the Partakilat conservancy.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
No domestic flight is needed. Manzili House sits in Karen, a leafy suburb at the foot of the Ngong Hills, so you transfer by road from Jomo Kenyatta International or Wilson airport in around an hour, depending on traffic. We arrange the transfer to meet your flight.
Its location puts Nairobi National Park, the Giraffe Centre and the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust close by, which makes the house an easy first or last night around a safari.
Nairobi is one of the few parts of Kenya that official guidance treats as very low risk for malaria, thanks to its highland altitude of around 1,700 metres and the urban setting, so the CDC and TravelHealthPro class the city as very low risk rather than a standard malaria zone.
Once you travel on to the safari areas, though, you enter malaria country, so most guests take antimalarial tablets for the whole trip. Please confirm the right course for your itinerary with a travel clinic or your doctor, and take the usual care against bites after dark.
The altitude keeps Nairobi mild the year round, with warm days and cool evenings and a spring-like feel rather than tropical heat. The rains green the gardens and can bring afternoon showers.
Pack light layers with a jumper for the evenings, comfortable clothes for the house and garden, and sun protection for the day. A light waterproof is useful in the wetter months, and swimwear for the pool.
Nairobi is mild and pleasant whenever you visit, so as a first or last night around a safari, Manzili works well the year round. The dry months are clearest for any game viewing in Nairobi National Park nearby, while the rains lift the gardens and the birdlife.
The house is really about a comfortable, homely base close to the airport and the city's wildlife attractions, so the timing follows your international flights more than the seasons.
Both. Manzili has six en-suite bedrooms across two houses, and you can book a single room or take the property on an exclusive-use basis, which suits families and groups who want the place to themselves. The main house sleeps up to eight, with a separate two-bedroom house alongside.
The kitchen works to order rather than to a fixed menu, with an in-house chef cooking light meals and Swahili suppers to suit your group, served wherever you like, indoors, in the garden or up on the rooftop terrace. That flexibility is what makes it easy to shape a stay around a family.
Yes. Taken as a whole house it is a comfortable, private base for families, with six bedrooms across two houses, a garden and a swimming pool, and a flexible kitchen that cooks to order around children's tastes and timings. The Karen setting is quiet and green.
Game drives in Nairobi National Park, elephant feeding at the Sheldrick Trust and giraffes at the Giraffe Centre are all close by and land well with children. Tell us your family's ages and we will arrange the rooms and the outings to suit.
rated five stars by our clients
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
