'I had been watching the real estate websites for a while, but I didn't find a house that really appealed to me,' says Barbara, herself an architect at Bureau Bouwtechniek . Among other things, she was in charge of the conversion of the renovated KSMKA in Antwerp. 'Because we lived behind the corner there, I walked past Woning Meulepas every day, a beautiful house that always incredibly appealed to me. Not that I had ever set foot inside it, but it really captured my imagination. So when I saw the property appear on Immodôme's website, I immediately jumped on it. Even from my first visit, it was love at first sight. It was nice to share that feeling with Isabel from Immodôme, you could feel from everything that she was really in love with it too. Unfortunately, our children were not immediately as enthusiastic as my husband and I when they first walked in here, although fortunately that has since turned around completely.' (Laughs.)

From 1932 to now

'What makes the house extra special is that it has always remained within the Meulepas family. In all those years, hardly anything was changed about it, everything was still just as it was in 1932. Eleven heirs had to decide on the sale and they had appointed one family member as contact person. I am incredibly sorry that he never got to see the end result. His daughter fortunately did and her enthusiasm is heartwarming.

Invoices in francs

'The family had given us a huge archive, complete with blueprint plans, invoices, sketches, quotations.... You name it. Fireplaces, the stairwell with an aquarium that used to contain shells, the terrazzo bath - really everything Meulepas had drawn out. A plan of every nook and cranny in this house still exists, even the price of the terrazzo bath is still listed in Belgian francs. It cost peanuts compared to what you pay for it now, but before then it must have been quite expensive too. Such a bath in yellow terrazzo was something very modern back then. From the many paperwork, we discovered that the house was damaged during the war, and the costs of the repair works were also kept. Very interesting to be able to reread all that in detail. Personally, I think it's also cool to see what architects used to give importance to.'

Rebuilding without surprises

 'The fact that the architect drew everything out in such detail, interior and exterior, lighting and fittings, probably also had to do with the fact that it was his own home. It does ensure that everything fits together and forms one magnificent whole. In 1995, the house was protected as an exponent of the work of architect J. Meulepas and as an example of modern architecture in Lier alone... There was no mention anywhere of what exactly had to be preserved then. Of course, we discussed this carefully with the Heritage Department, but strictly speaking we were fairly free. However, that does not mean we changed much - quite the contrary. Actually, we were able to keep almost everything, a great asset of such a solid and well thought-out house. During the renovation, for instance, we also hardly encountered any surprises, something you can't say of every renovation project.' (Laughs.)

Back facade in new

So what things did they change? For that, we have to look at the back of the house. 'The advantage was that the renovations over the years had remained at those typically Flemish interventions. The classic 'koterijen', you know: an annexed veranda, windows in PVC.... A lot of importance used to be attached to the façade and room structure, but the rear façade was less important. So in this house, it remained quite traditional with rather small openings and a closed character. This gave us the opportunity to create larger openings and insulate the facade from the outside, which was handy. For this, we did use brick strips to approximate the original architecture as much as possible without sacrificing contemporary comfort requirements.'

Bigger and lighter

'So we didn't add any volumes, but the attached veranda did go. On the same spot we placed another volume with a passage from the dining room to the kitchen. In this winter garden full of plants, we made a built-in cupboard with guest toilet. Before, the guest toilet was behind the kitchen in a closed storage room without windows, but we opened it up into a cosy sitting area with a delightful garden view. We kept the yellow, authentic tiles in the kitchen area as much as possible, and those that had to give way for the corner window we recovered to replace some damaged ones. The ceilings had no great heritage value, so they were allowed out, which was handy to get rid of all the technology without having to touch the beautiful parquet floors. Finally, we enlarged both the window at the bathroom and in the stairwell and made an access to the roof terrace. We did not change anything else structurally. It was a challenge, but we are very happy with the result. We haven't lived here for very long, but for now there is really nothing I wish we had done differently.'

Renovate under conditions

 'Buying a protected monument does have some issues. If you buy a protected monument, you pay less registration duties, but there are a number of conditions attached. For example, you have to draw up a management plan, a document in which you describe in detail what is present in the property, what is valuable and what is not, how you plan to maintain it, and so on. To enjoy an additional reduction, we also had to sell our previous home within the year. So there was some time pressure, but thanks to working with my brother-in-law, an architect at Studio Ambacht, and a passionate team of contractors, we managed to meet the tight timing. 

From front door to kitchen

'For the kitchen renovation, our eye fell - after quite a search - on Bulthaup. It was not easy to find a kitchen that suited our taste and the style of the house. A very typical element of the house is the front door covered with stainless steel and gilded tiles. So we continued this line in the kitchen, together with the Bulthaup people. The stainless steel and sand-beige aluminium of the sand-beige cabinets match perfectly with the rest of the house. Also very nice to see how the sunlight reflects in them.'

Lierke plezierke

 'Moving to a house behind the corner was super convenient. We love living here, close to the station and yet only five minutes from the Grote Markt. There are countless nice addresses here so you can always find something to suit your mood. In our neighbourhood you have De Parade, a delicious bakery-slash-breakfast-lunch spot. If you have something to celebrate, you can go to Het Looks and if it should be really festive, Numerus Clausus is an absolute hit. Wine bar Bar Bar Estivo also comes highly recommended. If you are looking for something budget-friendly to go with a whole bunch of kids, then Bar Muza, next to the academy, is the place to be. (Near the new Immodôme office, nvdr.) We can only be happy and grateful that this phenomenal house came our way, and that we were able to stay in nice Lier, in our old, familiar neighbourhood.