Early on a weekday morning, the only sound you'll catch from the kitchen at Jagersdreef 7 is birdsong. Not the vague, generic kind — woodpeckers working the oaks at the edge of the garden, the occasional rustle of a deer moving through the reserve that begins literally where the grass ends. There are no through roads here, no delivery trucks, no neighbours' engines warming up. Just a 325-square-metre villa sitting on 3,302 square metres of private land in one of Flemish Brabant's most quietly coveted pockets, where the Lichtaart heathlands fade into the residential fringe of Herentals.
This is the kind of property that takes a while to fully understand. It doesn't announce itself loudly. Pull up the private driveway — long enough to park several cars well off the road — and what you notice first is the sense of proportion. The gabled roofline, the mature trees framing the facade, the way the building sits back from the lane as if it has nothing to prove. The 2023 renovation was thorough without being aggressive: original exposed beams were kept, the fireplace in the living room still draws the eye when you walk in, but the kitchen is fully modern, the bathroom is genuinely spa-quality with both a bathtub and a walk-in shower, and solar panels on the roof mean running costs stay honest.
Inside, the layout flows logically rather than fashionably. The entrance hall has a proper cloakroom — something that disappears in properties with more focus on staging than living — plus a guest toilet before you've even reached the main rooms. The kitchen is set up for people who actually cook: good storage, modern appliances, a layout that keeps the chef in the conversation rather than buried in a corner. It opens onto the living roo ... click here to read more
