ARCHITECTURAL AND INTERIOR DESIGN: PAS-PARTOE

TEXT: TINA HØM PHOTOGRAPHY: JEAN-MARC WULLSCHLEGER

DIVINEINTERVENTION

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AT FIRST GLANCE, JAN AND KATHY SMITS’ turreted home—a former

vicarage in the quiet village of Heindonk, near Antwerp—is all Gothic splendor. But the couple,

both designers who make up the firm Pas-Partoe, have a taste for the modern. Their original

spin on the 1910 house begins at the rear, where they have added a contemporary extension

with blackened-oak cladding and soaring double-height windows, connected to the old

structure by a glass box.

Inside, the house serves as a dramatic showcase for Jan and Kathy’s interior design business,

which they run from home and whose offices and showroom are contained in the new volume.

Black and white dominates the décor throughout, and an all-black entrance hall with a solitary

white classical bust sets the tone. As you move to through the rooms, the balance of color

shifts: Some spaces have white walls with black ceilings; elsewhere, it’s the opposite. The more

public zones, such as the living and dining rooms, have windows free of drapery to let the light

flow through. “Varying light and dark spaces helps create a feeling of mystery,” Jan says.

The dining area was once two rooms; Jan and Kathy expanded it into a larger space with

more natural light. A solid-oak table tailor-made for this space is surrounded by Bertoia chairs

and black wood DC10 chairs by Inoda + Sveje from the Miyazaki Chair Factory. A chandelier

by Piet Boon hangs above the table; below is a black sisal rug. The walls hold a work in paper

by Guy Leclef and a photograph from Verne, and in one corner, the couple placed a red

hand sculpture they found at a local antiques shop. As in the dining room, the pair combined

two rooms to create the master bedroom, which plays host to huge monochrome portraits.

The living room is also an artful space, with a gray velvet sofa from Flexform and a variegated

rug from the couple’s own store. A blue painting by Gilbert Swimberghe hangs near a pair of

wood chairs inspired by a design by the Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret, better known as

Le Corbusier’s less-famous cousin. A bespoke bank of cupboards along one wall conceals

everything from a television to a bar cabinet; this wall also houses two glass-fronted fireplaces

that extend through to the dining area on the opposite side. With extraneous objects hidden

from view, the couple’s display of artworks, books and sculptures are as free to shine as they

would be in a minimalist gallery. “Our home reflects our personalities,” Jan says. “It’s a nice mix

of old and new, and the contrast makes life more fascinating.”

The couple spends much of their down time in the kitchen, where black hues of various tones

and texture are used to add depth to the interior. Glazed Moroccan tiles, also known as zellige

tiles, give an irregular sheen to the walls. Just below, a deep-black Aga range (“my must-have—

it’s the heart of the house,” Jan says) joins custom sandblasted oak cabinets stained black to a

matte finish. An Arne Jacobsen alphabet typography tea towel continues the black-and-white

theme, and the designers replaced the old window with a larger, steel-framed version to invite

more light into the room.

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THE KITCHEN’S ORIGINAL FLOOR TILES continue

into the adjacent TV room, creating a sense of cohesion; similarly,

the couple continued the new black tiles from the kitchen to

the TV room fireplace, near which rests a Flag Halyard chair by

Hans Wegner from PP Møbler. “Nothing fake would ever cross

our threshold—no laminate floors or copies of original furniture,”

Jan notes.

In the powder room, antique gold taps, a natural stone basin

and storage units fronted with ink-colored drapes soften the dark

color scheme; such design approaches throughout demonstrate

how warm and inviting black can be. In the cathedral-like master

bath, a tub by Duravit is enveloped within a bespoke wooden

casing, with fixtures by Volevatch. In the hallway and master

bathroom, the home’s original floor tiles have also been preserved,

adding a welcome nod to the past. “It was important for us to

create a nest, a place where we could both feel at home,” Jan

says. “We didn’t want to live in a show house.” Pas-Partoe, +03

866 40 66, pas-partoe.be

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