HOUSE TOUR | ROOMS & GARDENS | CABANA MAGAZINE
Emma Becque enters antique dealer Anouk Beerents' 19th-century canal house in East Amsterdam, where her collection of antique gilded mirrors accents a blend of mid-century modern furniture, metallics, and miniature marvels.
BY EMMA BECQUE | ROOMS & GARDENS | 19 JULY 2024
The stainless steel kitchen inside Anouk Beerents' mid-century canal house © Isabel Bronts
Amsterdam is a city teeming with creatives, and the cultural hub of De 9 Straatjes is a labyrinthine lair waiting to be discovered. A quick turn and you will find yourself lost on the Prinsengracht canal. Here, hidden within a 50-metre-deep space, is a unique porthole into the world of antique mirror specialist, Anouk Beerents.
The former paper factory is an emporium of over 400 18th and 19th-century mirrors. Each is strung up on iron picture rails like works of art in the neighbouring Rijksmuseum. Camouflaged within plain sight, only the golden reflections of burning candlelight signal its presence - if you are lucky enough to spot it.
Enter some of Amsterdam's prestigious hotels, such as The Pulitzer, Waldorf Astoria and The Dylan, and you will find one of Anouk's antique mirrors. More international clients have included Ralph Lauren in New York and the Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg in Germany. Her career began as a “hobby” after completing her Leiden law degree.
“I followed my passion, transforming a hobby into a business. For me, an antique mirror isn't just a decorative piece; its weathered flaws tell a unique history. Starting in 1989, I specialized in importing and exporting these mirrors, turning my parents' old tobacco factory into a thriving enterprise," remarks Anouk. Becoming quickly known as “the mirror girl”, the Dutch antique dealer found herself sourcing for friends and family, which eventually culminated in the successful business she runs today.
The atelier's restoration was a labor of love in more ways than one; Anouk's husband, Hans Kodde, happens to be an architect. "Initially, we shared the space, but today, his office (Kodde Architecten) sits beside the atelier.
"Every aspect of this place and our house down the road was a team effort," smiles Anouk. Reclaimed Orangerie doors preside over antique luggage racks from an old Dutch train dividing the area into a study, workshop, and paint pantry. Equally fitting are industrial lights sourced from a French chicken hatchery during a foraging trip.
The entrepreneur has a well honed work-life balance. "It's freeing to jump on my bike with the dog and flit between my house and the studio." After a quick cycle through the city, she arrives home in trendy East Amsterdam where, beside the botanical gardens, is her 19th-century canal house. Unlike the fragility of her atelier, this space is grounded by hefty metals, calming white walls, and handcrafted memorabilia.
Inside, the entertaining quarters are split across two levels, each showcasing a coherent style of objects collected by the husband-and-wife team. A painting by Cole Morgan is paraded in the exhibiting window for all to see - "this was the first artwork we bought at TEFAF, which in hindsight is crazy as we hadn't even purchased a washing machine at the time," laughs Anouk.
The original wooden floors and white linen installation (by Anouk's sister, Joost Beerents) offer a peaceful patina and backdrop for the "touchable" items on display. Alongside paintings by renowned artists are totems of pebbles, sketches, and miniature marvels by her daughters. Such expositions are as valuable as works by Dutch painter, Corstiaan de Vries, who also "gifted a pot of artist pencils, which have culminated over time each time creative visitor pops by".
The stainless steel kitchen is "a work by Hans, which has stood the test of time, 20 years to be exact." Like all Netherlanders, a series of floppy tulips are ever-present, sourced locally from Gerda's Runstraat florist. A seasoned treasure hunter and lucky auction player, Anouk has managed to bank a Piet Hein Eek wooden table and six Eames chairs, while a 19th-century trumeau mirror - one of her own - offsets the cool silvers. Dangling above is a nonchalant chandelier cast from nature using aged mistletoe branches "from a few years ago". Equally resourceful is a spotlighted artwork by Anneke Eussen, crafted using layers of pressurised car windows.
Anchoring the tall, skinny building is an impressive curved metal stairwell, which serves as the entryway to the reading room and office below. In the basement, a city garden of evergreen plants is a vignette of green in contrast with the stainless steel, natural wicker and ceramic decor elsewhere.
A cushioned 17th-century sofa is flanked by leather train parcel suitcases, providing ample space for reading and reflecting and homework. Reflecting a grin in one of Anouk's 18th-century Louis XV mirrors is a taxidermy moose head, bought in France, "she watches over us smiling, so she was gifted the name, Mona Lisa."
Unlike the art gallery walls below, the bedrooms upstairs offer a respite from the city. Flooded with light, the minimalist spaces have been reworked for teenagers and travelling parents. Herringbone wooden floors pave the open-plan space, apart from one slice of iron cladding which "was a must to show the vista of the admired architectural staircase." The children's bedrooms haven’t evaded Anouk's eye for fascinating finds: inside, a museum-worthy climbing frame and cabinets of curiosities house vintage novels, dollhouses, and teddy bears.
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