Maison Mariette
A house with a story
Maison Mariette is a place to work hard and a place to come home to. Above all, we prioritized a homely, cozy character, just as the name suggests. Someone once told me, "Wow, a house with a name that smells like apple pie." And what could be better than warm apple pie to unwind together, as professionals, among friends, with family, or at a party?
From plain building to warm home
The building we bought was marked by simplicity and austerity: a living room with 2 armchairs around the stove, 2 bare bedrooms, a kitchen that doubled as a bathroom, an outdoor toilet with no running water, plus stables, a grain loft, a hay loft, and a large hangar. After three years of dreaming, demolishing, and rebuilding, together with my two kids and with help from many others, Maison Mariette became a second home for us and for many others. Alongside this you'll find some old/new photos of the different spots in the house, along with some atmospheric photos of our hard labor.
A place where old and new meet
Maison Mariette is more than an alliteration, it's a place where old and new, living and working, rest and activity, openness and coziness, and above all working, relaxing, and celebrating keep curiously meeting one another. During the renovation and interior design, we preserved this encounter between different elements. Every room has at least one authentic feature: the recovered old tile floors, the feeding troughs and vaults in The Stables, the old roof timber framework in the bedrooms, the old brick walls… These old elements meet new influences: the metal ventilation pipes visible in The Stables, the modern kitchen, professionally equipped meeting rooms, the wadi (rainwater basin), good wifi everywhere…
We lived for years next to Jef and Mariette, hardworking farmers, brother and sister, living in their parental home, in all simplicity, and always ready with straw for our chickens, apples & peaches from their garden, help, advice, action and materials, … A reference to the previous residents of the house therefore could not be missing from the name of this new purpose for their home.