A Modern House in the Woods

“Everything in a house contributes to the feeling of well-being. That’s something I want to evoke in all my projects, including my own home.”
—Bertram Beerbaum

If you know where to look, deep in the woodlands near the town of Laren in North Holland, a most unusual house can be found. Nestled in the wilderness, almost obscured by spruce, birch, and fir trees, is a one-of-a-kind house in the woods. Branches and leaves cluster close to the low-rise timber building, which looks perfectly at home among the surrounding greenery—almost as though it has always been there.

The villa is the pet project of designer Bertram Beerbaum, co-owner and general manager of Dutch interior architecture firm Kabaz. When Beerbaum first came across the idyllic site, he found it well-suited as a family dwelling for himself and his teenage son.

“It’s definitely what I’d call my ‘dream home’,” Beerbaum says. “It’s set far back on the lot, so the house looks as though it has just appeared out of the woods—nature couldn’t be any closer. It’s a very pleasant place to be—you can feel it as soon as you drive through the gates.”

When Beerbaum purchased the site, he found there a thatched roof cottage that had been built in 1956. The small one-storey bungalow wasn’t quite what he had in mind for his longed-for home, so he toyed with the possibility of demolishing and starting again. In the end, he decided on an ambitious renovation—aided by his colleagues at Kabaz—that would preserve the rural spirit of the original structure.