Huisruil Leuven Home exchange

Open offer for home exchange

2009-02-27T08:33:00.001+01:00

We've been swapping houses since 1994. We've been to the U.K. countless times, twice to Ireland and once to Brittany, France.
We were available for exchanges for weekends and for school holidays for years on end, from 1994 up to 2010 (Christmas, Easter, mid-term breaks...).
Contact us on nadine@yenn.be in case you want to discuss exchange opportunities with us.
We live within walking distance of the railway station, with trains taking you to the heart of Brussels in 30 minutes flat. We have bikes available for short outings in and around Leuven. Downtown Leuven being rather small, you can easily reach most sights on foot as well.
In 2009 we've started with YENN b&b, see http://www.yenn.be for more information.

We were member of Homelink International** and in case you want to realise an exchange with us we are happy to reactivate our membership with them.

Also check out the links on the left, sniff the atmosphere, and get in touch !

* References from former exchangers are available on request.
** http://www.homelink.org/

Comments from one of our exchange partners

2007-02-20T22:40:00.000+01:00

"The biggest selling point for us was the ease of getting to the city centre of Leuven and also the fact that we did not have to use our car as we went "everywhere"* on the train. The public transport is first class." M. F. (U.K.) 1 week during Easter vacation 2006
* everywhere = Tuesday: full day in Brussels; Wednesday: Ghent; Thursday: Eurostar to Lille; Friday: Antwerp (am) and Mechelen (pm) and on Monday (first day) and Saturday (last day) we stayed in Leuven

A house with a history

2007-02-17T13:16:00.000+01:00

In spite of comprehensive refurbishing over the last seven years, the house has not lost anything of its historic appeal. We have chosen for authentic materials (mostly wood) wherever possible and we have 'undone a number of improvements' made between the '60s and '70s.

Final draft of the reconstruction, dated 1915. You may note one major change in the current aspect of the house, dating from the 1960s.

The facade now carries a plate, a memorial to the First World War and the subsequent recon-struction. Scattered all over Leuven there are about 50 houses with such a plate, most of them built in a similar style to ours.

About the family kitchen

2007-02-16T22:29:00.000+01:00

When we moved into this house in August 1997 the kitchen was extremely basic, pretty non-existent even. We installed the Aga-cooker, the organic heart of the new kitchen, in November 1998 and built the rest of the furniture around it.
Before the Aga came, we put in new wooden flooring : lovely to walk on on bare feet and one hardly ever breaks anything, when one accidentally drops something.
All larger kitchen appliances (fridge, dishwasher, washing machine, tumbledryer) are in the scullery*, adjacent to the kitchen, and out of sight.

* This scullery was in fact the 'kitchen' before we moved in and converted the main dining room into our family kitchen.

Oriental blessings ...

2007-02-15T21:38:00.000+01:00

Since Spring 2006 there's a new feature in the garden

As we've worked and lived in the Far East (Seoul, Rep. South Korea) for several years, you'll find oriental features in and around the house. This buddha being only one of the oriental surprises you'll come along.

More images from the garden

2007-02-14T11:57:00.000+01:00

Summer afternoon near the pond
an ideal location for afternoon tea

... or for dinner al fresco

Details of a century-old house

2007-02-13T21:37:00.000+01:00

Our house was first built at the end of the 19th century but sadly destroyed, along with the whole area, during the Great War. However, by 1919 it was already rebuilt in its former grandeur.

More photographs

2007-02-12T23:13:00.000+01:00

the entrance of the house

an old English kitchen dresser from Chelmsford

entering the living room from the kitchen

about half the book collection (living room)

Leuven - part 1 - the town

2006-12-31T00:15:00.000+01:00

The history of Leuven: http://www.mtns2004.be/12Leuvenhistory.html
or on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuven
A place to live, work, study and have fun:
http://www.leuven.be click under 'toerisme' on EN for information in English;
http://www.agenda.be/;
http://www.brocantebelgium.be/
Walks in the area (in dutch - english info in print available from tourism@leuven.be)http://www.kuleuven.be/kuleuvenbeweegt/wandelfiets/index.htm
Leuven is also the seat of the provincial government of Vlaams-Brabant
http://www.vlaams-brabant.be/vlbrEn/homeEn.jsp?page=497
and there are nice walks and bicycle trails available at http://toerisme.vlaamsbrabant.be/ or check with toerisme@vlaamsbrabant.be for details in english

The provincial government of Vlaams-Brabant, right across the street from our house

Leuven - part 2 - the beer

2006-12-30T00:17:00.000+01:00

Giant poster in the London Underground

Photograph taken in December 2006 when house swapping with a London family.

More about the beer on http://www.stella-artois.com/index.html

Leuven - part 3 - the university

2006-12-29T00:29:00.000+01:00