GOLDEN DAYS

A listed property, with its own orchard and a garden leading on to a national park, provided the perfect homecoming for Antoinette and Lars van der Berg

- GERALDINE NESBITT

After living in the US for a few years, the van der Berg family moved back to their house in the Netherlands, which had been rented out during their absence. ‘With four children, it felt like we’d completely outgrown the space,’ says Antoinette. ‘But I had my eye on this house, which was just across the road and much bigger. It had extensive grounds, including a swimming pool, hockey pitch and an orchard. I loved the idea of cooking with home-grown fruit and nuts!’ When the property came up for sale, Antoinette put in a call to the estate agent. ‘The airiness of the house is what attracted us – high ceilings, tall windows, lots of light!’ Another plus was that the grounds are adjacent to a forest and a national park, yet the house is close to a town, so it offered the perfect mix of country life with the hustle and bustle of community life.

Antoinette and Lars had a clear idea of the renovations they wanted to do on the house. ‘We planned it all out in detail,’ says Antoinette. ‘The house is a listed property, not just because of the building itself, but because of its location in a conservation area. For every improvement or change to the property, we needed to obtain permission – from window frames, roofing and flooring to interior walls, everything had to be officially approved.