Vertical wood facade slats rise from a long brick base, giving the house a clear two-part reading from the street. The lower level stays grounded in grey masonry, while the timber above is set out in narrow ribs that catch the light in a different way throughout the day. It is a family home with vertical wood facade slats, but the composition is not just about material contrast. The closed front keeps the street side restrained, and the rear opens fully to daylight and long views beyond the rooms.

A front elevation that holds back

From the street, the privacy focused front facade reads almost like a screen. Openings are limited, and the brick base supports the timber volume above without drawing attention to itself. That restraint changes the experience of the house before anyone enters. Instead of offering a direct view inward, the frontage keeps the interior private and turns the more generous gestures toward the back of the plot. The result is a townhouse with large glazed openings where they matter most: on the side that faces light, air, and the wider surroundings.

That front-to-back contrast gives the project its rhythm. The vertical wood facade slats sharpen the upper part of the composition, while the long brick base facade design settles the house into the ground. The materials are few, but they work hard. Brick provides the horizontal line; timber pulls the eye upward. Seen together, they make the elevation feel measured rather than heavy, with the closed street side doing exactly what it needs to do for privacy.

Glazing, sightlines, and a more open rear side

At the rear, the house changes tempo. Large glazed openings stretch across the back elevation and bring in a broader wash of daylight. The rooms are set up to look past each other, so the eye keeps moving instead of stopping at a wall. Those rear facade with long sightlines are one of the most readable parts of the plan. You feel the length of the house through the sequence of openings, and the view outward stays present even when you are standing deep inside the interior.

The glazing also softens the boundary between inside and outside. Instead of a single framed view, the back of the house works as a series of clear openings that carry light across the floors. The greenery and water beyond the house remain visible from multiple points, and that wider setting becomes part of the daily visual field. In a townhouse with large glazed openings, the rear elevation carries the social weight that the front deliberately withholds.

A calm interior that keeps the view in focus

Inside, the material palette stays quiet. White surfaces, wood accents, and built-in wall storage keep the rooms visually ordered, so the attention goes to the light and to the view outside. The interior with built-in wall storage avoids unnecessary breaks in the walls, which lets the rooms read as clear, open volumes. Instead of filling every surface, the design leaves space around the larger openings and uses the cabinetry to fold daily functions into the wall line.

The living area shows that approach in a direct way. A low television zone sits beside the open fireplace, both integrated into a single wall composition. The line of the room stays clean because the storage is embedded rather than scattered. A modern light interior with wood accents does not need much explanation here; the wood is present in the joinery, in the stair, and in the tone of the finishes, while the white walls keep the space from feeling visually crowded.

Built-ins that keep the room open

The cabinetry is not treated as an afterthought. Panelled doors sit flush with the wall and pull visual clutter out of the room. That makes the opening towards the rear glazing more effective, because the eye can travel from the built-in storage to the windows without interruption. The same logic carries through the rest of the plan: surfaces are kept plain, details are pared back, and the rooms rely on proportion rather than decoration to hold their shape.

Light reaches deep into the interior because the plan stays open along its main lines of movement. A staircase with wooden treads adds another material note, but it remains controlled. The dark grain of the steps contrasts with the white enclosure around it, and the black handrail draws a thin line through the section of the house. It is a small element, yet it helps define the vertical route between floors without taking over the room.

Wood, white walls, and the stair between levels

The staircase becomes one of the clearest interior details in the project. Its wooden treads show a visible grain, which softens the otherwise crisp setting. Paired with the black rail and pale surrounding walls, the stair reads as a precise cut through the house rather than a decorative object. That kind of detail matters in a calm interior, because it keeps the movement between levels legible. You see where the house turns, and you understand how the rooms connect without needing extra visual noise.

Elsewhere, the same restraint continues in the bedroom and study zones. Large windows bring in daylight, grey curtains sit in front of the openings, and the white built-ins keep the rooms grounded. The surfaces do not compete with the view. They frame it. In a family home with vertical wood facade slats, that discipline extends from outside to inside: the house uses material changes and long lines, not ornament, to shape its character.

The roof terrace keeps the view open after dark

Above the living spaces, the rooftop terrace extends the house’s outward gaze. Grey ceramic tiles create a firm surface underfoot, and the glazed opening beside it keeps the connection to the interior direct. The rooftop terrace jacuzzi sits in this setting as a simple, usable feature rather than a showpiece. It is placed where the view can stay wide, with the terrace reading as another level in the house’s sequence of open and closed spaces.

From up there, the project’s main idea is easy to read. The privacy focused front facade turns inward, the rear facade with long sightlines opens outward, and the roof keeps that outward focus going above the rooms. The materials remain consistent as well: brick below, timber above, glass where the house needs light and depth. Even on the terrace, the composition stays clear, with the grey surface, the wood lining, and the open edge working together to hold the view in place.

A house shaped by what it reveals and what it withholds

What stands out most is the way the house manages its openings. The front keeps its distance. The rear extends the rooms toward light and water. Inside, built-in storage and plain wall planes support that same logic, leaving the larger gestures to the glazing and the stair. The project never relies on excess. It uses the contrast between the brick base, the vertical timber, the clear glass, and the controlled interior finishes to make each part of the house read distinctly.

That clarity is what gives the family home with vertical wood facade slats its lasting impression. The house does not ask for attention through decoration. It works through proportion, material shifts, and the way it opens and closes along its length. From the street-facing privacy to the rooftop terrace jacuzzi, every part of the plan points back to the same set of decisions: keep the front contained, let the back open, and let light do the rest.

Photography: Jansje Klazinga