Property
The newly built country house was designed by the architect. The house is 72m² in size with a 10m² annex located on a densely wooded piece of natural land.
Landscape architect Andreas Jorgensen and journalist Mikkel Hybel Fonsskov always wanted to create their own house, and on a plot of land adjacent to the Asserbo Plantage in Denmark, they built their dream house with the main imperatives. “We wanted to build a simple year-round house that matched the area, in a Nordic style with a Japanese touch with just a few good quality items and materials, preferably natural, such as wood, clay and stone. But the most important thing is that he doesn’t allow himself to distract all his attention from the most important thing: nature,” Andreas said. ” We haven’t felt the need to add too much to the house to create an atmosphere. The pictures on the walls seem redundant when large sections of glass next to the forest act as ever-changing works of art.”
Working closely with an architect, the couple is involved with all the drawings and keeps an eye on every detail. They even designed their own built-in bed, bathroom furniture, and the front of the kitchen cabinets. The house was built by a construction company from Svendborg, where Mikkel grew up. It took about six months to build the house, but they had to wait patiently for about a year and a half after buying the land to get final approval for the building.
“The area is called ‘The Sand,’ but we call it ‘The Quicksand,'” Andreas said. “When we cleared the plot to make room for the house, we found that under the forest floor there was only sand, sand and more sand, so the house was built with a 10m pole on the ground so that it did not sink over time. The first year I made a big compost bin because I knew we needed to feed the sandy, lean soil. We collect a lot of cubic meters of compost every year and use it to improve the soil.”
It is hard to imagine that when the house was finished, the surrounding land was completely empty. Everything in the garden has been planted by yourself, and although it looks wild and wild, it is not a random design. “The garden is designed as a ‘naturalistic garden’ and the plants are carefully selected, so it attracts a lot of insects. For two years we have been going back and forth to the plant workshop and probably now we have more than a few hundred different plant species. Sandy soils cause some problems in relation to growth, but the biggest problem is actually the large number of deer that eat almost everything,” Andreas said.
As a landscape architect, Andreas was used to planning and never started projects without drawings. Mikkel, on the other hand, is more spontaneous and likes to start something without fully knowing where it will end. Common for both is the love of owning a project, and they use it as a way to relax.
“We live in the center of Copenhagen, with a lot of urban life and activity. The cabin is a place with complete peace and silence, it is a natural vitamin boost,” Andreas said. “We use cottages all year round, it’s more of a leisure home than a vacation home. We enjoy the season here, and since it’s a new home, it doesn’t take time to heat it up, so we don’t have to close it during the winter.”
In fact, the outdoor bathing area is also used all year round. This is because they have surveyed the hot water so that they can enjoy the shower outdoors, even though it has been outside for a long time. “We walk a lot in the woods and go down to the lake, or we cycle to the shore. In the summer we bike to Tisvilde and get a little ‘city atmosphere’, and then we get back to the tranquility of the forest,” Andreas said. “We know a lot of people in the area, so there’s always someone we can stop and say hello to. But most of the time is spent working in the garden.”