Simmerhûs

A Japanese/Scandinavian Inspired Barn Home with a Nod to Island Tradition

Designed in 2024 by Team V Architecture on the Dutch Wadden Island Terschelling (a UNESCO World Heritage site), Simmerhûs is completely sustainable and filled with art and design.

Set in a green oasis accented by an outdoor fireplace, the barn-inspired natural retreat stands tall and proud, its sustainable credentials having earning it an A++ label. These include a FSC certified Douglas Fir exterior, custom interiors enclosed in triple glazing, manually tinted roof tiles, copper gutters, solar panels, plus rainwater collection and purification.

With its look designed out of respect for the past but with a decidedly contemporary signature, the home's creative interior reveals serenely minimalist Japanese and Scandinavian influences in light, modular wood furnishings, brightened by oversized windows and doors. Rooms are practical, simple and fresh, with built-in bed platforms, tidy cabinetry and storage, bench seating spots, and the added flair of traditional island farm-shed type shutters that, when closed, merge seamlessly with the home’s burnished (shou sugi ban) exterior wood façade.

The bright living area is anchored by a sculptural, double-sided chimney, and an outdoor terrace under the roof’s sharp overhang opens to the garden, which is great for al fresco dining, playing or lazing on the bright green, and showering outside under a stream of purified rainwater.

Around

Terschelling is located in the Wadden Sea in the northern Netherlands, a vast island of charmed villages and lush green nature. Endless sands and coastline invites beach combing, sea shell gathering and wildlife watching, and regulars to the island love getting around by biking Terschelling’s dikes. Reached via boat from Harlingen, the island’s harbor at West-Terschelling is the only natural bay in the Netherlands and known as one of Europe’s prettiest. A lighthouse towers over the harbor, the island’s symbol for over 400 years. One of the best ways to explore Terschelling is by bike, and the land is crossed by an extensive network of paths. Bikes can be taken across on the ferry, or there are many rental options on the island.

Known for its varied nature and natural reserves, the island’s 60 square kilometers are surprisingly diverse, allowing for cycling through woods and dunes, heather and polder, and along immense, solitary beaches, a few dotted with pavilions offering coffee and eats. Boschplaat on the island's eastern side is home to breeding birds, and UNESCO has given this part of the Wadden Sea protected World Heritage status for its “wet” mudflats that stretch from Den Helder to Esjberg in Denmark, home to millions of migratory birds. Covered wagon trips and horse riding are a unique way to discover the island’s marvels. And inland, the island’s forests, salt marshes and heathland offer some 200 kilometers of unpaved hiking trails, and the island’s villages, built along a single road from west to east, consist of lively communities, seaside resorts, small fishing villages and pastoral farm hamlets in the grasslands and green pastures.

Location

Terschelling Island, Wadden Sea, The Netherlands. Nearest airports: Groningen (95 miles), Amsterdam (125 miles), Rotterdam (165 miles)

Best time to visit

Year round