At this moment we build manly in The Netherlands. One month ago we started with the assembly of a loghouse in Overijssel, in the East. Beautiful countryside, untouched since the seventeenth century.
On the farm there is a traditional masonry house from 1950, but it has almost no insulation and with current gas prices it is impossible to heat such a house.
The owner will soon demolish that house, but first we will build a new one.
We had some small outstanding works to be done with a client for whom we built a house about one year ago. Good opportunity to take some photos and put them on our website.
And we were lucky because this client had just built himself a wooden terrace. Originally this was a concrete terrace, but wood looks so much better. It sort of places the house on a pedestal.
When in the neighborhood sometimes we drop by older clients, just to say hello, or to regulate a window (which can be necessary in a log house from time to time).
So we dropped by this log house that we built some three years ago, and guess what: they turned a muddy plot into a little Valhalla.
For those that are familiar with Almere in The Netherlands: in the background is the famous flying saucer house.
Today we started with the assembly of a new log house. This log house is a bit like all the other log houses that we built, except for one thing: solid wood.
So far we used laminated logs, i.e. logs that have been cut into 40 millimeter planks, dried, and then glued together. Such “gluelam” logs have some technical advantages: they are physically more stable, they don’t warp or crack, and they can be made in any length.
The Eric & Flo is one of our most popular houses. A strikingly simple and timeless design, and also very powerful from every angle.
In 2017 a Dutch client wanted a copy. Now an exact copy was not possible because of the Dutch building regulations and we had to raise the roof by a few centimeters. Also this client installed underfloor heating with a heatpump whereas the original Eric & Flo has no heated floor, not even heat-pump, just a wood burner… But other than that the house is almost identical.
In the South of The Netherlands we built the Riethoven house. Designed by the owner himself, this house is both a log house and a panel house: the ground floor is a log house, and then the second floor is a panel house, but constructed in such a way that you can not see the difference. If you would not know any better, you would think it is all logs. The panel construction gave us just that little extra flexibility to meet the demands.
We are builders and we are proud of our houses because of the techniques and materials that we use. Our houses are robust, sturdy, they have very high insulation values and the are build to withstand ages. But all that means nothing when it comes to aesthetics.
A nice design is just that, nice, and that is why we often cooperate with the architects from OxL.
The Eric & Flo is one of our showroom models. We built this house in 2012 in The Lozère at a height of 1250 meters. In winter it gets seriously cold here, temperatures of -15 degrees Celcius are the norm. Last time we visited this client was in February 2019 en then they had half a meter of snow.
The simplicity of the design is striking. A simple tilted roof and a wooden planks bardage on the outside with modern corners, and no stick-through miters.
Next to the Mont Blanc A beautiful three bedroom chalet built in the valley of Mont Blanc mountain, in Les Houches, with a big vide. Splendid view towards the Mont Blanc.
While building this house we tried to keep traditional local style yet we have implemented some modern details. A contemporary look, with Siberian larch cladding on the exterior and a plasterboard finish on the interior.
In the South of The Netherlands we built the Riethoven house. Designed by the owner himself, this house is both a log house and a panel house: the ground floor is a log house, and then the second floor is a panel house, but constructed in such a way that you can not see the difference. No gypsum inside, all pine planks as if it were logs. The panel construction gave us just that little extra flexibility to meet the demands.
