While their careers took them to various cities in Europe, the US and Asia, Stef Claes and Michiel De Meulemeester, both Belgians, were used to renting any lackluster apartment they could find. But when Mr. Claes, an architect, and Mr. De Meulemeester, a business manager who runs Mr. Claes’ company, settled in Geneva, they began to think about creating a more attractive home.
After leaving Paris, where they had a 320-square-meter apartment, “we lived in a rented apartment for the first five years,” said Mr. De Meulemeester, 37. “In Geneva our apartment was two and a half years old. half the size so we felt like kings. But after a while we started dreaming about owning a small home of our own.”
When they started looking for a property in 2017, there wasn’t much on the market. They had seen an offer for a ground floor apartment in a 1930s building overlooking Lake Geneva, but ignored it because they wanted to live on a higher floor.
When they ran out of other options, Mr. Claes finally decided to take a look and was surprised by what he found. “Good energy, good light, nice proportions,” said Mr. Claes, 40. “There was also a little garden that looked out onto which was super cute.”
The 1,300 square foot space was in dire need of renovation as it hadn’t been updated in decades, making it ideal for a couple looking to put their own stamp on their home. They purchased it in late 2017 for 1.3 million Swiss francs (approximately $1.47 million) and began planning a refit.
Mr. Claes reimagined the flow of the space: Where the kitchen had previously been pushed to the back of the apartment, he brought it to the front and made it open to the living room, reflecting the reality that the couple would spend much of their time there .
“We were actually very lucky to be on the ground floor because we were able to use the basement to move ducts and pipes to the front, which would not have been possible on the upper floors,” he said.
Since they planned to work from home, he created space for a dedicated office in addition to a master suite and second bedroom. To make it easier to hold business meetings and parties with friends, he designed a series of folding and pivoting floor-to-ceiling panels that look more like movable walls than traditional swinging doors.
One sliding panel can hide the master suite while another can hide the living room and kitchen. From the foyer, pivoting panels that blend into the stained birch plywood-paneled walls lead to the office, second bedroom, a bathroom and laundry room.
“We only have one door and that is our front door,” Mr Claes said.
To give the space character, they chose materials full of texture and patina. The narrow oak floor, for example, looks as if it has always been there. “I told my wood flooring contractor that I wanted it to look like a New York bike shop, with stains, oil and life,” Mr. Claes said. “It’s weathered.”
To create an industrial-looking kitchen island, he designed a wooden box with rounded edges and corners and had it painted in a metallic paint with a nickel finish. “It makes it look like a solid metal feature in our living room,” he said, adding that the island is higher on the side facing the living room to hide dirty dishes.
They opted for waxed linen curtains and a sisal rug for the living room, before adding a plush sofa covered in cream Belgian linen and intriguing vintage finds: small wooden coffee tables in the style of Pierre Chapo, 1950s spindle-back lounge chairs by the Swedish designer Yngve Ekström and a dining table by Angelo Mangiarotti.
Construction began in April 2018 and was completed in September. The cost was around 650,000 Swiss francs (or $735,000). During this time, the couple tried to calm their new neighbors’ nerves with small gifts. “We sent a lot of bottles of wine and chocolate,” Mr De Meulemeester said.
Since then, thanks to the wine and chocolates or perhaps their continued thoughtfulness, the couple has made many friends in the building, adding to their sense of community.
After years of itinerant living, Mr Claes said: “We are so happy here that the apartment keeps us in Geneva.”
They still travel regularly for work and pleasure, but they always come back.
“Sometimes we think, ‘Oh, shouldn’t we take another chance or move somewhere else?'” Mr. Claes said. “But it’s so nice to have created this space.”
For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here.