Haacht, Belgium
Member since
1988Exchange dates | Duration |
---|---|
October 25, 2024 - September 30, 2025 | 1 weeks |
We zoeken huisruil voor de herfstvakantie vanaf 25 oktober 2024, voor de krokusvakantie vanaf 1 maart 2025 en voor de paasvakantie vanaf 3 april 2025 en verder voor juni, juli en augustus 2025. |
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.
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.
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.
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/
References
This member has completed 25 home exchanges. Those referenced below may contain feedback/impression from its exchange partners:
Summerland, Canada
CA2653Cobourg, Canada
CA2862Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Spain
ES1017826We exchanged with an experienced Intervac family, who looked after every detail and were extremely communicative and kind.
Their house is much better than the website shows.