HOUSE TOUR | ROOMS & GARDENS | CABANA MAGAZINE
Exclusive: Explore Aimelie de Belder's beautiful Belgian estate, designed by Raymond Rombouts - a luminary of Belgian modernism whose meticulous approach to raw materials shaped a generation of architects, including Axel Vervoordt.
BY EMMA BECQUE | ROOMS & GARDENS | 12 DECEMBER 2024
The Belgian villa unfolds across 70 hectares of land designed by Flemish landscape architect Jacques Wirtz © Miguel Flores-Vianna
Some houses have a magnetic pull. Aimelie de Belder's home, perched on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, is one of them. Originally designed by the great Raymond Rombouts—a luminary of Belgian modernism whose meticulous approach to raw materials shaped a generation of architects, including Axel Vervoordt—the house seems to fold the landscape into its walls.
Surrounded by 70 hectares of bucolic greenery sculpted by the late Rombouts, it is an idyll not just for Aimelie, her husband, and their daughter but for anyone lucky enough to visit. "We saw the listing and thought, 'What if we were crazy and bought this house?'" Aimelie laughs. Having resided in a modish apartment in Argentina the countryside villa "was love at first sight."
Amelie de Belder's striking estate in Antwerp. All images © Miguel Flores-Vianna
Their daring ambition would charm the current Dutch owners, who had kept the property on the market for seven years, awaiting special custodians who would appreciate its subtle grandeur just as they had. "We knew the house's bones were strong enough that it didn't need decoration— instead, it needed thought," she says, "and I think they fell in love with how much we understood this notion."
Aimelie's instinct for design, it turns out, is inherited. She grew up surrounded by her parents' distinct creative sensibilities: her mother, Barbara de Belder, has spent decades as Axel Vervoordt's creative director, while her father, Daniel de Belder, crafts poetic furnishings using reclaimed wood from their inherited arboretum.
With a collector’s eye and a background in art history, Aimelie has transformed the main sitting room into something of a living museum © Miguel Flores-Vianna.
Their twin influences suffuse the house. Like her influential parents, Aimelie believes living within her home means embracing history, modernity, craftsmanship, and practicality. "It's humane," she concludes. "Big, but not imposing. Elegant but not intimidating. It's a house that requires requited love."
One such space remains untouched, the kitchen. Here, pastel Dutch tiles—rescued by architect Raymond Rombouts—set the stage for vintage finds and heirlooms. A golden chandelier from her grandfather anchors the room and shelves and walls become ever-evolving canvases for jelly and butter moulds with miniature hanging baskets on rotating displays per season. “Everything here has a second life—or third or fourth,” she notes. Hanging linens, utensils and collections of pottery have been salvaged from Belgian flea markets and travels afar.
Dutch tiles in soft pink, green, and cream frame the kitchen, complemented by an original marble sink and aged copper fixtures © Miguel Flores-Vianna
Once a formal dining space, the orange-hued drawing room has been reimagined as a multifunctional space where games are played and after supper cocktails are sipped, a reflection of the couples modern sensibilities. “We were such a young couple when we moved in—my husband was only 25,” Aimelie recalls.
“We wanted to make this space feel lighter and more youthful while still respecting the essence of the building.” A sculpted desk by Aimelie’s father, serves as a study area, while the textured, layered walls painted by Eddy Dankers—“a purist technique, rare these days,” Aimelie notes—continually lights the room. Above the fireplace, a Venetian artwork by Ida Barbarigo, gifted by Aimelie’s parents in honour of her thesis on women in art, is an omnipresent reminder of her parents pride.
With a collector’s eye, Aimelie has transformed the main sitting room into a living museum. Natural light spills across the room, spotlighting an Argentine painting by Federico Coletta. Family pieces lend gravitas: a polychrome statue from her paternal grandparents, a terracotta bust of Flora, and the commanding Hercules bust sourced from Argentina. "It's my favorite piece," she reveals. "Its strength and masculinity evoke Michelangelo's figures in the Sistine Chapel."
Upstairs, Aimelie weaves practicality with imagination. In her daughter's nursery, hand-painted yellow stripes traverse the walls with a painterly precision, offering a bespoke alternative to wallpaper. Italian artist Noemi Zavoli's nautical-themed paintings bring aquamarine hues. By contrast, the main bedroom exudes quiet sophistication, swathed in Belgian linens by Libeco and punctuated by a display of monochromatic vessels—souvenirs from museum shops and natural excursions.
The 'prize of the house': Amelie de Belder's custom-fitted dining room in Antwerp © Miguel Flores-Vianna.
The dining room, declared by Aimelie as "the prize of the house," features a commanding centrepiece: a custom-fitted green library acquired from Axel Vervoordt's TEFAF stand. "The shade is so unique; it brings such depth," she reflects. The walls sing with Thierry Bosquet's hand-painted panels depicting the four seasons, their lyrical quality a testament to the artist's storybook charm.
Despite its expansive proportions, the house feels surprisingly intimate—a feat Aimelie attributes to Rombouts' mastery of scale. "It's a big house," she acknowledges, "but it feels cosy. It's a house that grows with us, and we with it."
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