The farmhouse on the Weverbeekstraat in Schorisse is an exceptional clay-and-timber-framed building — a unique specimen in the Flemish Ardennes. Situated along the Krombeek stream, surrounded by biologically valuable grasslands, and protected as a monument, as part of a protected landscape, and within a Natura 2000 zone, this building calls for a careful, layered approach.
The new owner, a biologist, purchased the farmhouse in 2022. Together with her, we drew up a heritage management plan — the foundation for all works and a prerequisite for subsidies through the reduced transfer tax scheme. That plan strikes a balance between heritage value, ecology, and energy optimisation.
A major earlier restoration from 1991, carried out by architect Ro Berteloot and fully documented in the De Zwarte Doos archive in Ghent, gave us a solid starting point. We were quickly able to assess what had been done at the time and where we could build on it.
What is currently underway? The oil tank and boiler have been removed and replaced by an air-to-water heat pump in combination with PV panels on the garden storage building. A new drainage system with an individual purification unit is being installed. The barn has been fully underpinned — new foundations, repair of sill plates and posts — and restoration of the clay infill and wattle has begun. Secondary draught doors address the most significant sources of heat loss without damaging the original joinery.
What is planned? The barn will be converted into an insulated winter unit following the box-in-box principle, with views onto the garden. The grassland around the farmhouse will transition to extensive hay meadow management, connecting with the surrounding nature reserve. Pollard willows and hornbeams will be cyclically managed for on-site timber use. The garden will be restored to its historical layout, with attention to native spring flora and heritage trees.
This project is an exercise in slowness and care: a building and landscape given room to breathe, step by step, with respect for what once was.
