It was the long, hot summer of 1976. Young, a touch reckless and living in a modest ground-floor flat in Antwerp’s Zuid district – which was nowhere near as popular then as it is today – we set out in search of more space. We found it in a large 19th-century townhouse, which we fell in love with at first sight. It was the slightly overgrown city garden, with an old silver lime tree at the back, that particularly stayed with us. At the time, the house was divided into three flats, not all of which we were even able to view. But what we did see was enough. We bought it that very same day: perhaps a little impulsively, but without ever regretting it for a moment. The high ceilings, the spacious rooms and the house’s unique energy have always enchanted us. The neighbourhood grew alongside us too, becoming livelier and gaining a fresh, vibrant energy with the Groen Kwartier. Today, the house has become a little too big for us. Time to say goodbye. We’ve come full circle, as we’re returning to a flat in the Zuid, once again all on one level. We’ve cherished this house with care, and we hope the next residents will share that same sense of its soul.