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BE101

Haacht, Belgium

view from the street

view from the street

house seen from the garden with terrace table and slide

house seen from the garden with terrace table and slide

front door & entrance hall

front door & entrance hall

the fire place with smart TV

the fire place with smart TV

eating corner

eating corner

reading corner

reading corner

toys mezzanine above fire place and reading corner

toys mezzanine above fire place and reading corner

bathroom downstairs (entrance to sauna not visible)

bathroom downstairs (entrance to sauna not visible)

kitchen

kitchen

laundry

laundry

landing showing upstairs bathroom and seperate toilet

landing showing upstairs bathroom and seperate toilet

master bedroom

master bedroom

bathroom in master bedroom

bathroom in master bedroom

bedroom 1

bedroom 1

bedroom 2

bedroom 2

Michael & Josee

Michael & Josee

Platinum

Member since

1988


Open for exchange
Exchange dates Duration
June 15, 2024 - September 26, 2024 2 weeks
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House in Haacht, Belgium, in the very heart of Belgium.

A one-family home in a rural setting, with a large garden, with easy access to public transport and motorways.

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Our Family

  • 2 Adults
  • 0 Children
  • 25 Exchanges made

Occupation

  • Professor (retired)
  • Teacher (retired)

Our Home

  • House Type: House
  • Floor: 2
  • Environment: In the country
  • Bedrooms: 4
  • Bathrooms: 3
  • Sleeping Capacity: 6
  • Living Area: 86 m2
  • Total Area: 236 m2

References

In my house

  • Pets - Not allowed
  • Small children - Allowed

Exchange Types

  • Home exchange

Indoor

  • Free internet access
  • Computer available
  • Central heating
  • Fireplace
  • Baby equipment
  • Toys and games
  • Washing machine
  • Dishwasher
  • Clothes dryer
  • Television
  • Other musical instruments

Outdoor

  • Garden
  • Terrace or deck
  • Balcony
  • Park / playground
  • BBQ
  • Sauna private
  • Bicycles: 1

Facilities

  • Non-smoking house
  • Use/Exchange of car
  • Seclusion/Privacy

Our Destination Wish List

  • Open to any destination
  • Ireland
  • Germany
  • Martinique
  • Suriname
  • Italy
  • Canada
  • Montenegro
  • Northeastern Region, Iceland
  • Croatia
  • Norway

Spoken Languages

  • English
  • Italiano
  • Français
  • Español
  • Deutsch
  • Dutch

Our Neighbourhood

Nearest Airport: Brussels (Zaventem) - 15 km

We live right in the middle of the country, 25 km north-east of Brussels capital area, also close to the medieval towns of Leuven (university town, 12 km) and Mechelen (11 km), with easy (walking) access to bus and railway public transport, and at some 10 to 20 km from motorway access points in all directions.

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Occupation

  • Professor (retired)
  • Teacher (retired)

Children

  • We do not have children.

Pets

  • We do not have pets.

About Our Family

We're both retired; our three children have their own families, not too far away. We love open natural beauty and old and new architecture, modern and classical art, so both city exploration and walks in nature, along rivers, lakes and sea, in plain fields and woods and in mountains. We love talking to local people and exchange cultural experiences. We've both been working in foreign language education (teaching and teacher training) and are members of several organizations of international hospitality. Our house has a modern but rural architecture (1979) with building materials uncovered inside (see pictures), wooden floors and ceilings in all rooms except in the bathrooms and kitchen. Living-room, kitchen, office, reading and open-fire areas are one large open space. The garden, some 80 m deep and 16 m wide is mainly a walking park with trees, bushes and lawns, a large (coverable) sandpit and slide, and bikes for children. We live in a quiet, rural, young neighbourhood, only 7 and 9 km away from access points to different motorways, some 500 m from a railway station and bus-stops; 15 km to Brussels international airport (with an easy direct bus connection from our village), halfway between two beautiful medieval towns, Leuven (university town) and Mechelen, and 25 km from Brussels capital area.

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Lifestyle

We are a (non-smoking) family: Josee (76) and Michael (79). The three children have left home and live with their partners and children. Josee is a retired teacher of German. Michael was a trainer of teachers of English-as-a-foreign-language at the university of Leuven, and has retired as well.
The house is built in a modern style, with inside as well as outside all building materials visible: bricks and wood and some concrete support elements. All floors and ceilings are in soft pine wood, which prefers walking on socks or slippers indoors (to avoid unnecessary scratches). No plaster or wallpaper is used. Living-room, kitchen, fire-place, reading-corner and part of the office area is in fact one integrated room-with-many-corners. The fire place is two steps down and can be (and normally is) for the larger part covered with cushions.
Central heating takes care of the colder days and of the daily hot water needs, and the smallest sun-beam is caught by large windows. The kitchen has all modern electric cooking facilities.The oval-shaped bath downstairs is large enough to contain two adults. There's a small isolated sauna garden in front of the bathroom window, and from the bathroom you have access to the sauna). There is a small bath and a shower upstairs, too (to save water!).
The garden is more of a walking and playing park, rather than a vegetable growing garden, but a good deal of berries are there for your enjoyment.
More information about us, the neighbourhood and region, and about our home exchange experience can be read from our hospitality website: https://sites.google.com/site/joseemichaelwelcomeguests/

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References

This member has completed 25 home exchanges. Those referenced below may contain feedback/impression from its exchange partners: