It's all in the details

For Teebs, who requested photos on some of the architectural details I mentioned in my post on cleaning my house. The curving staircase that I cleaned and polished earlier this week...

And looking in the other direction...

A cozy corner--note the stone fireplace, exposed beams, and the lovely casement windows...

The driveway. I never knew I could LOVE a driveway.

The house also has exposed brick walls downstairs, and knotty pine vaulted ceilings and eaves. If we ever build a house in America, it will incorporate a lot of traditional Belgian touches.

June 15, 2007

Copyright 2007 Veronica McCabe Deschambault and V-Grrrl in the Middle. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Debbie]

Now THAT's a driveway I could LOVE! I love your house. It's gorgeous.

[Arabella]

Oh my goodness, how beautiful!

I'm especially crazy about the curved wooden staircase banister with the red carpeting. And I completely understand how you could love that driveway.

[wordgirl]

Stunning pictures! And I love casement windows. The dorm my husband used to live in on campus had those kinds of windows. Lovely in Spring.

[mamatulip]

Green with envy over here....wow, V, your house is amazing!

[furiousBall]

holy crap your house is gorgeous.

[Nance]

THAT'S a driveway?! I would never, ever drive on it. OR park on it. It would become a patio. No wonder you see photos of Europeans scrubbing front steps and driveways and sidewalks. I'd scrub 'em too if they looked like THAT.

[V-Grrrl]

This is my rental, not my house, so I can't take credit for its wonderfulness.

When we move back to the U.S., we'll be paying a fortune for a townhouse or a tiny WWII-era ranch--whatever it takes to get close to the train station where my husband will catch the commuter rail into D.C.

So it's a good thing Teebs asked for photos; I may never live like this again.

[eace]

Whoa, what a wonderful home. It looks so peaceful and serene, so very beautiful.

[amber]

Wow, that driveway is really beautiful!

:)

[Ortizzle]

Love the driveway, the stairs, the window. Just one question: do houses in Belgium have those long door handles that get stuck in unbuttoned cardigans, etc., when you glide past in a hurry? That was one of the very few things I did not like about houses/apartments in Spain. (But for a house like that, I could live with it, LOL!)

[V-Grrrl]

This house has beautiful door hardware--black iron door pulls with "bird cage" style handles. For whatever reason, the handles don't catch my cardigans, probably because the house has a fairly open floor plan so I don't navigate small spaces (except in the toilet room, which is the size of a public restroom stall and is the only part of the house I hate).

[Peter]

It's fun reading American "wow, great house" comments - many of the expat blog owners are whining and complaining about their rental homes over here in Belgium.

But then again, you handpicked an amazing rental home near Brussels. And while Belgian rents have not yet reached US levels, quality houses near Brussels are becoming quite expensive.

Thanks for showing your house Veronica, it really looks like one of those "feels like coming home" places.

[V-Grrrl]

Peter,

The Americans would die to consider a five bedroom house with ONE closet--in the foyer.

Being rampant consumers, we like to have ample built-in closets to store all our STUFF.

[TB]

It's gorgeous. I also love the beautiful wooden front door and the tile floors.

[bubandpie]

Oh, oh, oh! That window just fills me with longing.