Home for Life by Karel Verstraeten
Home for Life sits in Ghent, Belgium, as a compact house for a retired couple by architect Karel Verstraeten. The single-storey home arranges daily life across an accessible plan, then tucks a small loft under the gabled roof for visiting grandchildren. Warm timber surfaces, generous circular windows, and chimney-like roof volumes keep the mood domestic and bright while the layout quietly anticipates future care.
About Home for Life
From the garden, a simple white gable stands behind a tall tree. A circular window and copper-toned roof volumes draw the eye toward the quiet house.
Inside, the view runs straight through to the rear terrace, where low furniture and planted beds anchor daily life around sun and soil.
This house is conceived as a home for ageing rather than a monument. Designed by Karel Verstraeten in Ghent, it is a single-storey dwelling that arranges rooms in a clear, accessible sequence for a retired couple. Doors are wide, thresholds are level, and each corridor is short, so movement from bedroom to kitchen to garden remains easy as needs change.
While the architecture is modest in outline, the plan works hard: served rooms cluster around a generous living hall, and more technical functions anchor the sides and roof volumes.
Approach And Outline
From the street, the building reads as a compact village house with a crisp gable and round window. A hedge and low wall temper the shift from road to forecourt, giving the entrance just enough depth.
Once inside, the front door opens directly into the central living area, avoiding narrow hallways and tight corners. This big room sets the tone for the whole plan, with a high timber ceiling, exposed CLT surfaces, and long views toward garden and sky.
Daylight As Guide
Three chimney-like roof volumes punctuate the copper-colored roof, each tied to a supporting function below. Their vertical shafts catch light from above and drop it deep into the plan, so circulation paths stay bright without glare.
In the main living hall, a circular opening in a CLT partition aligns with the loft above, turning the thickness of the wall into a glowing light well. This round void echoes the exterior windows and gives residents an easy visual cue for orientation during the day.
The repeated circle becomes a quiet wayfinding device: from the garden façade, through the interior partitions, to the bathroom porthole, daylight reads as a continuous thread.
Rooms For Daily Rituals
Around the central hall, distinct pockets of use unfold in a measured order. A dining table sits close to the kitchen and blue built-in cabinetry, so meal preparation and conversation stay connected.
Beyond, a sitting area faces the rear garden through large sliding glass, with low chairs and a round coffee table arrayed for reading, television, and watching grandchildren play outside. Bedrooms remain on the ground level, placed so that night-time routes to the bathroom stay short and direct.
In the bathroom, small square tiles wrap around the tub alcove, while pale timber boards and a blue vanity keep surfaces legible and calm. The round window at eye level brings in soft daylight and an oblique view of the neighborhood roofs.
Loft For The Next Generation
Above the living hall, a modest loft waits for visiting grandchildren. Accessed from within the main volume, it shares the same warm CLT lining as the rooms below.
Two single beds frame the large circular window in the gable, giving children a direct outlook over surrounding houses and hedges. Even here, the geometry of the opening maintains the house’s clear visual rhythm, linking play, rest, and the wider village.
As day fades, light withdraws from the roof volumes and round windows, and the CLT surfaces gradually deepen in tone. The couple move along familiar paths between living room, kitchen, and bedroom, supported by the quiet order of the plan.
From garden to loft, the house stays legible, generous, and compact at once, letting daily routines carry on while the structure patiently anticipates future years.
Photography by Stijn Bollaert
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