Welcome to my home

With two young children aged under five, Marjolein and Marco Bouhuijzen had outgrown their Thirties town house, so decided to look outside the city in their search for a new home. ‘We’d put in a number of bids for local properties, which had all come to nothing,’ says Marjolein, ‘but then one day a new construction project in Uitgeest (a small town in the north of Holland) caught my eye. Marco was born and raised in the neighbouring village, so after visiting the site over several weekends we decided to make the move.’

The location was the former site of a milk factory with views over a pasture, consisting of four properties set in a cul-de-sac. ‘Our house is called the “Kapberg” which means haystack,’ says Marjolein. ‘It’s built of timber and stone, and has space outside for a vegetable garden and stables for horses.’ The project took a year to complete. ‘I was getting impatient and was keen to start decorating,’ Marjolein says. ‘I’d had a year to plan, which meant I could get the design just right.’

Marjolein decided to re-work the downstairs layout completely. ‘I wanted the kitchen to function as the heart of the house, connected to the other spaces, but with defined areas for living and dining, playroom and hallway.’ To achieve this, she came up with the idea of putting in a large steel-framed window between the kitchen and living room to separate the spaces without blocking any light. ‘The window doesn’t open, but it makes the spaces feel connected.’

The decision has paid off. ‘The kitchen is absolutely my favourite space,’ she says. ‘It’s the real heart of the house and has a lovely atmosphere with a view of all the rooms, the garden beyond, and the meadows.’