Milla and Nigel’s Netherlands abode was once a chapel, so when they discovered a hidden fresco it became the heart of the home
DINING AREA
The couple are currently thinking of revamping this space to create an area for creative brainstorm sessions, morning coffees and drinks with friends.
KITCHEN
For the island, which was intended to ‘ground’ the whole open-plan living space, Milla and Nigel wanted a stone with colours that echoed the hues in the fresco, so they turned to stone expert Nick Blok, who found them this Italian quartzite. ‘The jewel of our home is definitely the soft pink quartzite stone the matches the original angel fresco,’ says Milla.
LIVING AREA
Milla and Nigel discovered the dramatic original fresco by happy accident when starting work on the apartment, after they had been told by the developer that there were none left. ‘It turned out to be the guardian angel for our renovation,’ says Milla.
finding this unusual loft –hewn by a developer from part of the chapel of a former convent outside the Dutch city of Haarlem – turned out to be the ideal solution to creative couple Milla Novo and Nigel Nowotarski’s search for a place to both live and work. ‘From the moment this apartment came up for sale, in our minds it became our dream place,’ says Milla. ‘But it took more than two years before we could finally move in.’
Because of its unusual layout – complete with multiple arched windows and dramatic six-metre ceiling height – it turned out no-one else wanted the flat and the day before it was to be withdrawn from sale, the couple again checked the real-estate website to find it had fallen dramatically in price. It meant they were able to snap it up. ‘It was meant to be that we came to live here,’ says Milla. ‘This place had waited for us.’ As it was essentially a shell, they also had free rein to finesse its design. This metamorphosis required expertise, so the couple called in the help of architectural practice Standard Studio in Amsterdam. ‘It was a challenge to respect the monastic atmosphere but give the new interior a comfortable, homely feeling,’ says Wouter Slot, creative director at the studio.
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