196 CLASSY MINIMALISM

Meets the countryside. Both rough and calming, a home that resembles two straw hats. Honest, pure, natural, a space to live and wear

One house, two blocks, and two widely separated worlds that interrogate each other close up. On the one hand, the old farms in the Zeeland region on the coast of the Netherlands, made robust by rain and salty air. On the other, ancient oriental barns with roofs that fly lightly towards the sky. The result, deep in the countryside 45 minutes from Brussels, is a small rural masterpiece: a secular cathedral with a larch façade tinted black, born out of a three-way collaboration and a single vocabulary, dictated by a contemporary minimalism that’s rough and quiet in the Belgian manner. The building was designed by Luc Maes, the garden is by Vincent de Roder, a contemporary artist, and the interior was curated by Frank Pay, the founder of Showroom 144, one of the most sought-after design shops in Brussels, as a mix of vintage and contemporary furniture, art, and hand-made objects. «This house - which was conceived from zero - has met all the functional and aesthetic desires of its owner», says Pay. «It’s radical and strong in its classy minimalism, just like the client, who is a very creative, avant-garde, influential person in the fashion world». Built on the back of a hill, HouseMoffers an extraordinary view of nature, opening itself up to sounds, the seasons, and the stars thanks to the volumes of an