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A NEW HOUSE WITH OLD BONES

8th April 2016

I came across this house by chance while scrolling Pinterest – the photo below of the fireplace popped up on my feed and I pinned it on my Quiet board, thinking this was an image to explore further. And sure enough, that photo led me to this beautiful house in Belgium designed by the architect Weyne Jurgen with an interior designed by Severine Jaspar.

House designed by architect Jurgen Weyne

This house was built by Bouw-iD using reclaimed materials, giving the property a sense of age – it feels and looks like a period house that blends into its rural setting thanks to the combination of timber, slate and stone.

House designed by architect Weyne JurgenHouse designed by architect Weyne Jurgen

Internally, the house combines clean lines with a palette of natural finishes and reclaimed materials to create an aesthetic that’s calm, uncluttered and timeless. The kitchen alone displays this beautiful mix of materials with the rustic timber ceiling and finely detailed wooden cabinetry against a rugged brick floor.

House designed by architect Weyne JurgenHouse designed by architect Jurgen Weyne

The interior designer Severine Jaspar has said: “Every corner was deliberately conceived and developed in order to obtain a snug house. Overall, this is a house on a human scale that surprises and intrigues.”

House designed by architect Weyne JurgenHouse designed by architect Weyne Jurgen

This interior is restrained and pared back, yet it’s also warm and homely. I realise that everyone has a different idea of what ‘homely’ looks and feels like, but for me it’s about natural textures and having pieces that are warm to the touch, from those pale floorboards to the patina of the brick fireplace, and this tactile approach continues into the furnishings.

House designed by architect Weyne JurgenHouse designed by architect Weyne Jurgen

Beautiful, right? I couldn’t imagine building a modern house that wasn’t very contemporary, with lots of glazing pulling the outside in and vice versa, but this house challenges that ideal. This feels like a new house with old bones.

House designed by architect Weyne Jurgen

See more of this project on Bouw-iD. All photography via Bouw-iD’s website.

See more projects by Weyne Jurgen.