My Houzz: Dutch Family’s Home Opens Up to River Views
A 1917 house in the Netherlands connects to the outdoors with an open layout and nature-inspired wallpaper
“Quite a few people looked at buying the house but didn’t know what to do with it,” Bas says.
Opening up the back of the house allowed for the installation of floor-to-ceiling windows. The windows have a thin, metallic reflective coating that keeps the home cool in the summer and insulates it in the winter.
Table: Gispen; windows: Planitherm 4S, Saint-Gobain Glass
Table: Gispen; windows: Planitherm 4S, Saint-Gobain Glass
The couple love to cook, and moving the kitchen from the middle of the house to the back created a direct connection to the edible garden where they grow herbs and spices.
The kitchen countertop came from Beluga, a Michelin-starred restaurant in the Dutch city of Maastricht that was being renovated. The drawers and cabinets were built to fit the length of the counter. Original wood from the basement ceiling covers the cabinetry fronts.
Steel reinforcements help stabilize the expanded kitchen.
Tile: Dtile; lighting: Coel House; woodwork: Frank Pouwer
Steel reinforcements help stabilize the expanded kitchen.
Tile: Dtile; lighting: Coel House; woodwork: Frank Pouwer
A storage unit behind the dining room table acts as a room divider. It’s composed of Besta cabinets from Ikea and a wood frame made by Bas. Casters make the unit movable.
Behind the dining area cabinetry is additional storage for the family and a place to hang coats.
Find wall hooks
Find wall hooks
Radiant heating warms the concrete basement floor, which was leveled and insulated.
The open staircases and hallways add to the modern, lofty feel of the house. “We wanted to keep the stairs open to bring in more light,” Bas says. “We didn’t need the understair storage.” The stairs are made of steel and wood from old railroad cars.
The open staircases and hallways add to the modern, lofty feel of the house. “We wanted to keep the stairs open to bring in more light,” Bas says. “We didn’t need the understair storage.” The stairs are made of steel and wood from old railroad cars.
By opening up the rooms, they were able to create extra living space on a new loft floor, known as an entresol.
The entresol is a cozy family room with a picture-perfect view of the river.
“We bought the house for the view and for its proximity to the city center and the train,” says Bas, who commutes to Amsterdam for work.
Sofa and ottoman: Design on Stock
The original kitchen is now used as a home office and features a wall of custom-built bookcases. The room’s size and lack of natural light weren’t ideal for a kitchen but are fine for a desk and books.
Custom bookcase: Cnossen Bouw
Custom bookcase: Cnossen Bouw
The door to the hallway is original but required restoration.
The living room, at the front of the house, wasn’t affected by the renovation.
Silk-screen prints: Ad Gerritsen
Silk-screen prints: Ad Gerritsen
In the master bedroom, reclaimed wood replaced the original floor.
A bold feature wall of nature-patterned wallpaper adds personality to each of the four bedrooms.
Wallpaper: Jungle, Designed for Living; see more nature-inspired wallpaper
Wallpaper: Jungle, Designed for Living; see more nature-inspired wallpaper
The hallway and the upstairs rooms got a new coat of paint.
The main bathroom was upgraded with an enclosed glass shower. The green tile on the bathtub and wall is original.
The couple’s youngest son wants to be an actor, so he uses the bottom bunk in his room to store his wigs and costumes.
Browse bunk beds
Browse bunk beds
The exterior of the house wasn’t altered, and the front door is original.
The back of the house slopes down toward the river. The overhang above the windows helps keep out the heat.
See more photos of this home
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Lofts | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
See more photos of this home
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Lofts | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
Who lives here: Bas and Femke Teusink; their three children, Siem, 18, Douwe, 16, and Jannes, 13
Location: Arnhem, Netherlands
Size: 1,600 square feet (149 square meters); four bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
Bas and Femke Teusink found a tired 1917 house in Arnhem, in the Netherlands, with small, dark rooms that didn’t take advantage of the spectacular river views of the Lower Rhine. “I was confident we could turn it into something,” says Bas, a professor of biochemistry at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
The living room, kitchen and dining room were on one floor, and the original basement was a low-ceilinged space. The homeowners decided to remove the basement ceiling and create a two-story kitchen and dining room. The plan also called for adding a loft and a wall of windows that would open up the back of the house to the views.
Once the couple decided to remove the basement ceiling, they enlisted architect Suzanne Nagtegaal of Buro Bois and general contractor Cnossen Bouw to help them execute their unconventional plan.