The Gardener’s House

Støvring in the kingdom of Denmark is a small town set south of Aalborg in northern Jutland, right on the threshold of a vast troll forest, the Rold Skov, 8 500 hectares of hilly terrain covered with trees like spruce, oak, and stands of ancient beeches, each with multiple twisted trunks dancing and winding in the tender greenery of springtime. It is Denmark’s largest connected forest area, associated with myths and tales, much like Robin Hood’s Sherwood, and like in Sherwood in the olden days, you would have to watch out for robbers in the wood. Today the rare forest is a peaceful and protected area.

Remember Mikkel Thorhauge, the gardener who turned the backyard of an old, refurbished fisherman’s dwelling in Skagen into an Eden on earth? Well, he lives here in Støvring with his wife Trine and their two boys, not far away, nothing is far away in Denmark. Their own house is quite another story.

Recently, the villa has undergone a radical renovation. The property acquired in 2022 was a characteristic Danish parcel house. From the 1920s onwards, the master mason villa was Denmark’s signature house, red brick with a saddle roof. Between the late 30s and late 50s, favourable loans from the government and lots granted by the municipality gave new groups access to a detached house with a garden.

In the 60s, the parcel house took over, typically a low yellow brick building with a flat roof, basically a little box on a little lot. Originally, the size was limited to 110 square metres. Specific rules regulated exterior, insulation, certain functions and so forth, requirements that gradually were eased. L-shaped houses became common, leaving room for a private part divided from a public, and providing for an intimate courtyard. Unlike the Swedish sky high million programme, the Danish mainly stayed on the ground. In the 60s and 70s one-point-five million people moved into lovely houses in small communities and a rural setting.

Before anything, Trine had made up her mind. First things first. Kvänum’s Nature concept in the Contemporary segment, with its cubic volumes, natural stone, and oak cabinet doors Ramel and Brahe was unconditional, so was the elegant brass knob Vide, throughout the house, no exceptions, period. Mikkel happily agreed, and so they started renewing the house.

During the whole process, our own architect Dorthe Theilade, teamed up with drawings and expert advice, not least when it came to materials used, like oak. Few things, Dorthe says, illuminate the modernism of the 60s like oak. Mikkel and Trine really had an eye for all this. In every aspect, they have honoured the past and the qualities of the parcel house, says Dorthe.

Now, there it is, at last, a low building with a flat roof half a flight of stairs up. The balcony above the double garage has a beautiful black ironwork railing, and all around the house there are wide screen windows and sliding glass doors dissolving boundaries between inside and outside in the spirit of the old parcel house. Additions are erected in circulated bricks, another act of reverence, and the aesthetic effect is stunning. The façade is crowned with fascia metal like a black ribbon, apart from practical, clearly sophisticated and decisive; this is what we are.

An old VW is parked on the driveway, it looks brand new, a classical Beetle, perhaps not pre-war but close enough, the iconic bug created by legendary Austrian Ferdinand Porsche, the first drawing of Volkswagen type 1 dated 28 of April 1934. Porsche possibly squinted at Czech Tatra’s aerodynamic design. He was sued but got away with it. Later, after the war, Volkswagen compensated Tatra with approximately one million D-marks. Regardless, that tiny pearl green car says something about its owners’ fascination with colour and form.

Their interior décor is Scandinavian blonde alongside stylish Danish furniture. As mentioned, they are almost meticulous about decorating or simply getting it right. On location in Kvänum’s joinery, they supervised our process of pattern matching the veneer of their cabinet doors, cutting and seaming it with unfailing precision. They wanted it to look natural, not too perfect, which seems to be the perfect definition of a perfectionist. Seriously, they are nothing of the sort, on the contrary, Mikkel and Trine are spontaneous, hospitable, and relaxed in their socks, but yes, definitely passionately engaged. In this house there is plenty of room for Danish “hygge”, a word that really cannot be translated; its connotation is vaguely something like relaxed cosiness and enjoying each other´s company.

In the garden one would find glass, ironwork, stone, grey teak benches, and spaces of geometric shapes still sparsely planted. Gardening takes time, but it is clearly on its way, there is a plan, in due time, no doubt, it will be a lush and graceful garden, and one fine day Monty Don will knock on the door in his straw hat.

On the backside is an amazing terrace marked by two magnificent brick pillars and the fascia metal, and a sheltered semi-atrium. A wide and low set of steps lead down to a rectangular pool with gentle stairs into the clear water of the shallow end. The water mirror reflects sunlight and moonshine; it is truly delightful. House and garden, cubes and quads? What is all this? Renaissance or Baroque in disguise? Strange, indeed. So unlike the house and garden in Skagen yet as inviting and luscious.

In spite of, or maybe due to the expressive cubism, there are nooks and crannies everywhere, spaces where you can hide away, read a book or take a nap. Separate, in what appears to be a patio, or almost, is an outdoor shower, in fact used more frequently than their indoor showers. The bathroom though, is something else, a sanctuary, a sacred room of marble for cleansing body and soul.