How the late Jenny Meirens, Maison Margiela founder, lived out on the edge
Jenny Meirens built the Brussels property in 2013 with architect Luc Maes
Jenny Meirens may have passed away last year at the age of 73, but her legacy lives on in the company that she founded in 1988: the edgy Maison Margiela (then named Maison Martin Margiela). Her memory and personality, however, live on in her isolated house in Pajottenland, a charming green suburb of Brussels that is also known as the “Tuscany of
the north”.
Firmly attached to her Flemish roots, Meirens found refuge in the rural countryside within Belgium’s Flemish Brabant province. This house, found in the middle of wide-reaching fields, evokes a wild and rustic romance in its isolation and architecture.
Meirens’ tastes were eclectic and wide-ranging: she had a real passion for Italy, where she previously lived; she loved the large, pointed thatched roofs of traditional farms in Japan, and the typical dwellings that one can find in Retranchement, located between Knokke-le-Zoute and the Dutch border.
This house, designed and built in 2013 by architect Luc Maes, took inspiration from the architecture of Retranchement, intimately linking the structure to the surrounding natural environment. The natural materials, stark and simple lines, as well as the large swathes of floor-to-ceiling windows, allow those inside the house to feel intimately connected to the outdoors, to the fields and the wide stretch of sky.
This omnipresence of glass – in everything from the panes serving as a handrail to the basement staircase or the sliding door in the entrance hall – allows maximum transparency within the living space. This naturally leads the eye to the garden, landscaped in the romantic style by Vincent de Roder, at once wild, reined in and minimalistic.
One particularly ingenious aspect of the architecture lies in the seamless and stunning way two twin houses are connected, via an upstairs walkway that serves as a connecting bridge and private terrace.
The first thing that you notice when you step into the house is the sheer size and airiness of the space, despite the dark woods and stone that feature throughout the interior.
