A harmonious summerhouse

Villa Begtrup is a newly built longhouse that invites nature indoors on the hilly Mols peninsula. The summerhouse is made from exclusive materials in a neo-Nordic design with black Troldtekt ceilings.

Malene Ledet Risager and her husband Søren live in Aarhus with their two children. And less than an hour’s drive away is their newly built summerhouse, Villa Morgenstjerne, which was completed in summer 2021. The house is beautifully situated on the shores of Begtrup Vig, which is part of the Bay of Aarhus.

The family bought the plot in February 2020. However, the existing cottage had fallen into such a bad state of disrepair that it was not salvageable.

“We chose the plot, not the cottage. In Aarhus, we live in a new and open residential area, but at our summerhouse there are tall trees and established greenery, so there is much more privacy. At the same time, we were able to create a dream holiday home for ourselves,” says Malene.

Longhouse in the countryside

Malene Ledet Risager and her husband have been following the designer and architect Bruno Jakobsen and his summerhouse project Sølvhuset – the Silver House – on Instagram, and found it very inspiring.

“We loved the style of Sølvhuset, and we said to ourselves that if we were ever going to build a house, that’s what it should be like. We didn’t know that Bruno Jakobsen also worked for private clients, so we started by contacting a company selling standard houses. But that just wasn’t what we wanted at all. So, I wrote and asked Bruno if he would be willing to design our summerhouse, and he was. We had already spent hours and hours looking at floor plans ourselves, and gave Bruno a draft which he used as a starting point.”

Like Sølvhuset, Villa Morgenstjerne is a longhouse with transverse windows. All exterior facades are clad in maintenance-free cedar. Special features include a sleeping loft, an alcove with a seating recess and a panoramic south-facing window. Outside there is a wooden patio around the house and a built-in outdoor shower.

“We love the panoramic windows. They work really well, as they draw the surrounding countryside into our home. There are lots of squirrels, deer and hares out here, which is wonderful compared to living in a newly built residential district. When we open the door, we can hear the sea, which is only 200 metres away,” says Malene.

Materials that go well together

As in other houses designed by Bruno Jakobsen, Douglas fir is a common theme in the interior design of Malene and Søren’s summerhouse.

The walls and interiors are either white or pale colours in natural materials, and the concrete floor is pale grey.

“Instead of having dull white doors, we went for sliding doors in Douglas fir. It’s the same wood that’s been used for the floors and ceilings in the bedrooms and for the sleeping loft. In addition, we’ve installed a large shelving unit in the southern gable, a modular kitchen and built-in cupboards in the entrance hall,” she says.

Brass handles and fixtures add warmth. In the bathroom, natural limestone from Sweden was selected, and in the small toilet the Risagers chose coloured terrazzo tiles.

Black Troldtekt ceiling

The ceilings are vaulted, and as the couple were unsure about which colour and structure to choose for the acoustic ceilings, they visited Troldtekt’s showroom to take a closer look at the various designs.

“At first we thought black ceilings would be quite a daring choice, and that it probably wasn’t really us. But then we became convinced that it would look good. The black ceilings create a den-like atmosphere, making the ceilings feel lower than they actually are, so it compensates slightly for the height of the vaulted ceiling. White vaulted ceilings can easily feel church-like.”

In addition to the design itself, the Troldtekt acoustic panels create a peaceful environment so that one can enjoy the sounds of nature outdoors:

“The acoustics could have been problematic due to all the hard surfaces with large windows and concrete floors, but we don’t notice any issues at all. In fact, it’s really lovely here,” says Malene.