A Master Artisan’s Belgian Retreat

Jennifer Fernandez

Eddy Dankers comes from a long line of royally appointed artisans: His ancestors were court painters for the royal families of England, Sweden, and Poland, and he has lent his own talents to the residences of the royal family of Belgium. But a taste for gilded finishes and rococo flourishes seems to have eluded him in his own home, an understated three-bedroom house in Nijlen, on the outskirts of Antwerp, that he shares with his girlfriend, architect Julie Claes. “It’s very organic and humble, not imposing,” says the Belgian painter, who stumbled upon the property on a leisurely bike ride 30 years ago. “It looks like an 18th-century house with good Golden Rule proportions.”

In fact, it’s hard to believe the structure didn’t exist even as recently as 25 years ago. Designed by friend and longtime collaborator Axel Vervoordt, the house exudes soulfulness, a feat that comes as no surprise given the celebrated Belgian designer’s mastery of minimalist spaces with a sense of romanticism. But it is Dankers’s virtuosity in his family’s traditional painting practices and adherence to natural materials—ideas as old as time now made revolutionary—that gives the house the warm patina of age. “Everything is painted with old lime techniques and mineral-based paints mixed with my own creativity,” says Dankers. “The house was a canvas for me to try out pigments with a lot of depth.” He incorporated dirt from his father’s garden to create the earthy brown walls in the living room, and he hand-painted the cuir de Cordoba leather paneling in his office. A custom hue known as Dankers White, which his father taught him to make, covers the walls of the orangerie, the house’s summer living room. “Lime is the mother of all paints,” he says. “It’s nontoxic and very breathable. It feels very natural, like it’s always been there.”

Celebrated Belgian landscape designer Jacques Wirtz designed the garden, with clipped hedges that provide contrast to romantic rambling vines and loosely arranged greenery. Neatly clipped edges direct the eye over unsightly water pumps used for irrigation and other domestic needs.
Celebrated Belgian landscape designer Jacques Wirtz designed the garden, with clipped hedges that provide contrast to romantic rambling vines and loosely arranged greenery. Neatly clipped edges direct the eye over unsightly water pumps used for irrigation and other domestic needs.

A covetable collection of antique furnishings helps complete the timeworn look. Dankers’s first purchase for the house was the 18th-century stairway in the entry foyer, which was set aside for him by Vervoordt early on in the construction process; over the next four years, he added to that list antique doors and vintage tiles, aged wooden beams and stately columns, finishing the house room by room as finances allowed. The artwork, on the other hand, leans toward the modern. Abstract pieces by artists Yun Hyong-keun, Sadaharu Horio, and Jef Verheyen lend the unassuming interiors a surrealist quality that continues in the garden thanks to the interplay of neatly clipped hedges and rambling vines, the work of the lauded late landscape designer Jacques Wirtz. “It’s like the house is embraced by all the green, and then the Japanese cherry trees in the back bloom in a cascade in the spring. It’s incredible.”

A testament to the artistry on display at every level, the property itself has become a source of creativity for Dankers. Though the commute to his studio is just a five-minute ride, he feels like the house is a world away. “We don’t have a telephone here; we don’t have televisions,” he says. “I’m traveling so much that when I’m here I just want to relax.” But work is never truly out of mind, as anyone who has seen the vast array of pigments available through his Domingue Architectural Finishes line of lime washes, mineral paints, and decorative plasters can attest. “For me, nature takes on the role of inspiration,” he says. “When you see the colors of plumage on the birds, the green of the herbs, the way the walls change like a chameleon in the orangerie with the light—everything can be inspiration.” He just happens to be at home in it.

A Master Artisan’s Belgian Retreat

Designed by friend and longtime collaborator Axel Vervoordt, artisan painter Eddy Dankers’s three-bedroom home in Miglen, Belgium, a suburb of Antwerp, was “a canvas for me to try out pigments with a lot of depth,” he says. The 18th-century staircase in the entry foyer was the first piece Dankers purchased for the house. Its rich graining mimics the veining in the marble flooring accent, as well as the coordinating faux-marble baseboard Dankers custom-created.
In his home office, Dankers covered the walls in a cuir de Cordoba wall covering made of gilded leather panels. The pheasant is a nod to an unexpected hobby: “I like birds a lot,” he says. In his spare time, he breeds organic chickens in the coop behind the house.
In his home office, Dankers covered the walls in a cuir de Cordoba wall covering made of gilded leather panels. The pheasant is a nod to an unexpected hobby: “I like birds a lot,” he says. In his spare time, he breeds organic chickens in the coop behind the house.
“In the morning you get the most beautiful light,” says Dankers of the orangerie, which he uses as a summer living room and is covered in layers of his signature Dankers White lime paint. “It gives me a lot of energy to start the day.”
“In the morning you get the most beautiful light,” says Dankers of the orangerie, which he uses as a summer living room and is covered in layers of his signature Dankers White lime paint. “It gives me a lot of energy to start the day.”
The former dining room has become what Dankers calls an “art room,” decorated with painter’s palettes that he and Claes created themselves as well as a custom painting he installed. “It’s a presentation of day and night, with the light blue representing a Flemish sky and the dark indigo symbolizing the night,” he says.
The former dining room has become what Dankers calls an “art room,” decorated with painter’s palettes that he and Claes created themselves as well as a custom painting he installed. “It’s a presentation of day and night, with the light blue representing a Flemish sky and the dark indigo symbolizing the night,” he says.
Dankers and his girlfriend, the architect Julie Claes, enjoy entertaining in their burgundy-colored kitchen, which is dominated by an open fireplace and a custom sideboard that stores olive-hued Spanish dishes.
Dankers and his girlfriend, the architect Julie Claes, enjoy entertaining in their burgundy-colored kitchen, which is dominated by an open fireplace and a custom sideboard that stores olive-hued Spanish dishes.
“Everything is painted with old lime techniques and mineral-based paints mixed with my own creativity,” says Dankers. He incorporated dirt from his father’s garden to create the earthy brown walls in the main living room, noting that the room’s cozy hues and larger fireplace make it more suitable for the winter than the orangerie.
The master bedroom features abstract artwork by Korean artist Yun Hyong-keun and a neutral color palette.
The master bedroom features abstract artwork by Korean artist Yun Hyong-keun and a neutral color palette.
A recessed tub in the master bath overlooks garden greenery.
A recessed tub in the master bath overlooks garden greenery.
Dankers’s 19-year-old daughter Yara’s bedroom features a vaulted ceiling and earthy hues.
Dankers’s 19-year-old daughter Yara’s bedroom features a vaulted ceiling and earthy hues.
The second-floor guest bath is covered in tadalakt, a waterproof plaster used in Moroccan architecture.
The second-floor guest bath is covered in tadalakt, a waterproof plaster used in Moroccan architecture.
“In the spring the house is covered in beautiful blue flowers,” says Dankers of the wisteria vine that grows along the side.
“In the spring the house is covered in beautiful blue flowers,” says Dankers of the wisteria vine that grows along the side.
Celebrated Belgian landscape designer Jacques Wirtz designed the garden, with clipped hedges that provide contrast to romantic rambling vines and loosely arranged greenery.
Celebrated Belgian landscape designer Jacques Wirtz designed the garden, with clipped hedges that provide contrast to romantic rambling vines and loosely arranged greenery.
Neatly clipped edges force the eye over unsightly water pumps used for irrigation and other domestic needs.
Neatly clipped edges force the eye over unsightly water pumps used for irrigation and other domestic needs.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest