My Houzz: Rescue Success for a Historical Rotterdam Home
A neglected three-story apartment becomes a strikingly modern family home with swinging hammocks and clever storage solutions
Hello! I am a contributor for Houzz, writer and interior stylist based in the Netherlands. Always in search of beauty in all forms, I founded my lifestyle blog Avenue to satisfy my thirst for design and lifestyle inspiration. I am the loving mother of a beautiful little girl called Lola, and the adoring fiancé of a handsome Dutchman.
Hello! I am a contributor for Houzz, writer and interior stylist based... More »
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Once barely habitable, this historical Rotterdam, Netherlands, house now boasts a modern interior with its original bones. Architects Fabiana Toni and Rocco Reukema bought it as part of an initiative to rescue historical buildings. “For us the fact that the house was so damaged was a plus point," Reukema says. "As architects we saw it as a chance for us to really do what we liked instead of looking for a house to fit our demands.” Although the initiative guaranteed a low price, they were obligated to make the place livable within a year.
Working with respect for the home's original details, Toni and Reukema remodeled the house into a modern city oasis, complete with a rooftop deck, an additional apartment and relaxing living room hammocks.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Fabiana Toni, Rocco Reukema and their 2 sons (2 and 10 months old)
Location: Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Size: 165 square meters (1,776 square feet); 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, in-law apartment
Working with respect for the home's original details, Toni and Reukema remodeled the house into a modern city oasis, complete with a rooftop deck, an additional apartment and relaxing living room hammocks.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Fabiana Toni, Rocco Reukema and their 2 sons (2 and 10 months old)
Location: Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Size: 165 square meters (1,776 square feet); 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, in-law apartment
by Holly Marder
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Bold oranges and reds, plus original exposed beams and ceilings, set the stage for the family's third-floor kitchen. The couple designed and built the dining table and benches themselves.
Table, chairs: custom; lamp: Kartell
Table, chairs: custom; lamp: Kartell
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It was important for the couple to create continuity from the kitchen onto the roof terrace. “My husband and I love to be outdoors, especially to eat breakfast on the terrace,” Toni says.
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| Downstairs, custom birch stairs run along the base of the staircase. Doors at the end lead to the master bedroom and a bathroom. Hammocks in the living room reflect the couple’s easygoing lifestyle. |
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The couple tore down walls to create the striking piano-like staircase. Several pullout drawers of varying sizes make up the base, creating storage for toys, tools and clothes.
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| This handy compartment stores toys for the children ... |
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A spectacular glass roof showers the staircase and third floor with light. The couple rented a crane and installed the glass themselves to save money.
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| Toni and Reukema custom designed the fireplace and integrated shelving unit. “The effort was to try to maintain a clean, minimalistic space but still create a space that could respond to our desires,” Toni says. Toy car: Loop Auto Fabriekje |
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Wood floors and paneling give the space a warm feeling and work with the new and historical features. The couple reused the home's original wood floorboards as much as possible, filling in with local secondhand wood and treating all the pieces with a whitewash and varnish.
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“The staircase is not only about the stairs themselves, but about the space and the fact that the floor almost becomes a wall and continues all the way up," Toni says. "I like this kind of continuity.”
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The children's shared bedroom has a clear view of the living room. “The kids' room is the best room in the house, because when you wake up and the doors are open, you can see straight into the living room and beyond into the whole house,” Toni says.
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| The room has twin cribs; a modest collection of furniture and accessories accentuates the light that pours in from large windows. |
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Those large windows in the children's bedroom, as well as throughout the rest of the house, help create the home's sunny atmosphere and connect the indoors with the outdoors.
Scooter: Loopfiets Store
Scooter: Loopfiets Store
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The living room has a clear view of the master bedroom and kids' bedroom.
“The vertical organization of the house has both advantages and disadvantages,” Reukema says. "The disadvantage is that with the bedrooms' proximity to the main living areas of the house, it can be a noisy house, particularly for the children. Then I think back to my own childhood, in which we sometimes went to a recreation dwelling, and I could sometimes hear my parents talking at night, and I remember it was comforting.”
“The vertical organization of the house has both advantages and disadvantages,” Reukema says. "The disadvantage is that with the bedrooms' proximity to the main living areas of the house, it can be a noisy house, particularly for the children. Then I think back to my own childhood, in which we sometimes went to a recreation dwelling, and I could sometimes hear my parents talking at night, and I remember it was comforting.”
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| A subdued palette and simple aesthetic make the master bedroom a light-filled oasis. “We are both quite minimalistic, but so much so that it starts to look cold," says Reukema. "We also wanted to create a warm atmosphere. In my opinion we succeeded at that. We have a lot of old details that make the look warm and inviting." Bed linens: Siena, V&D |
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| “When I lie in bed and look up and see the sun coming through the window, seeing the light dancing on the walls makes me happy,” Reukema says. The wardrobe-style doors on the right pull back, revealing the master bathroom. |
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Toni envisioned the sink's design, which allows water from the basin to flow like a waterfall into the bath. She “designs for practicality and aesthetics," Reukema says, "so often she throws in an idea, and I make it realizable."
Hardware: Profumi, Hego
Hardware: Profumi, Hego
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| The couple converted extra space into an in-law apartment. A compact kitchen with a concrete countertop and sleek cabinetry provides the essentials. A guest bathroom shares a wall with the kitchen. Faucet: Cucina, Gattoni |
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The couple lived in the first-floor in-law suite while renovating the home, utilizing this clever built-in wardrobe/sleeping unit until their bedroom was complete. “I was sanding the floor the day before delivering our first son,” Toni says.
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| A pattern of circular shapes the couple designed themselves adorn the plywood cupboard doors. The floor-to-ceiling wardrobe discreetly hides the built-in bed. |
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| When Toni’s mother visited shortly after they moved in to help with the renovations, she had to sleep in unfinished rooms in the rest of the house. “At one stage she was even sleeping under the stairs," Toni says, laughing. “It was an adventure.” Now she uses this bed when she visits from Italy. The couple occasionally rents the space as well. An extra single bed poses as a sofa. |
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| Fabiana Toni, at home with her youngest son. The couple's advice to first-time renovators: “Go to an architect,” says Toni, laughing. "Be wary of doing the work yourself, make realistic calculations of the time and costs involved, and make a vigilant plan of the process." |
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From the street the home hides behind a tree in autumn tones. The windows of the in-law suite can be seen on the second floor, with the living room windows directly above. The kitchen window peeks out from the top floor.
Houzz call: Share your creative, colorful home with us!
Houzz call: Share your creative, colorful home with us!
Ideabook published on Oct. 23, 2012.
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I second the comment about the stairs w/o rails in a home with young children. Absolutely loved the built-ins below the stairs, though.
There are still a lot of these houses and more and more people see the beauty and possibilities of them.
Creativity and light- filled houses are very common in Dutch cities, due to the small houses and the rainy weather
About the groceries, it was also my main concern from the beginning. If you look carefully at the last picture, you can see a small opening in the ceiling corner. We are planning to have there a small lift that will take the groceries from the entry of the house directly up to the kitchen. Only... it will probably be completed just before selling it... :-)