Saturday morning in Loenhout moves at its own pace. The bakery on the village square opens early, and by nine o'clock the smell of fresh bread drifts down Sint Annastraat. You walk back through the gate of number 52 with a paper bag still warm in your hands, into a southwest-facing garden already catching the first strong light of the day. The pond catches it too. This is what life feels like here — unhurried, grounded, genuinely good.
Built in 2007 on a plot of nearly 2,000 square meters, this four-bedroom villa in the heart of Loenhout is one of those rare properties where scale and soul arrive together. At 562 square meters of interior space, it has room for a large family, long-staying guests, a home office, a wine cellar, a cinema room — and still doesn't feel like it's showing off. The architecture is confident without being cold. Stone staircases, high-quality finishes throughout, and a layout that flows from room to room with the kind of logic that only becomes obvious after you've lived somewhere for a while.
Step through the entrance hall and the proportions immediately do their work. The living area is generous and genuinely light-filled — the adjoining veranda runs along the garden-facing side of the house, its oversized windows pulling in afternoon sun from the southwest all year round. In summer, the doors open wide and the boundary between inside and garden dissolves completely. In winter, you're watching frost on the pond from a warm room with underfloor heating underfoot. Both versions are equally good.
The kitchen is built around a Boretti gas stove, and if you know, you know. These Italian-made ranges are the kind of thing serious home cooks seek out specifically. The kitchen functions as a proper gathering space — wide enough to have three people cooking simultaneously without anyone getting in each other's way, and positioned so whoever's at the stove isn't cut off from the conversation happening in the next room.
Downstairs, the basement is divided into a wine cellar, three storage rooms, and a bar and home cinema space that already has the bones of something exceptional. Whether you fit it out for weekend film nights with the family or leave it as a flexible entertainment zone is entirely up to you. A rainwater tank and mechanical ventilation system are also integrated into the lower level — practical infrastructure that rarely gets mentioned but matters enormously for day-to-day running costs.
Upstairs, four bedrooms of genuinely useful sizes — 24.5, 31.5, 20, and 28 square meters respectively — mean nobody's compromising. The master suite has its own bathroom with a bathtub, double sink, walk-in shower, and toilet. A walk-in dressing room with built-in wardrobes sits off the landing. The attic level, currently used for storage, reaches up above the roofline and is accessible via a fixed staircase — potential additional living space that future owners could explore, subject to the usual planning considerations.
Four bathrooms total. A lift connecting multiple floors. An alarm system. Twenty-eight solar panels and an EPC energy label B. A new heating boiler and high-efficiency glazing throughout. The electrical installation is fully compliant and up to current Belgian standards. These aren't details to gloss over — for an international buyer purchasing a second home in Belgium, a property that arrives move-in ready with clean certifications and modern energy infrastructure saves months of work and tens of thousands in remediation costs.
Outside, two separate garages — one 36 square meters, one 20 — provide secure parking for multiple vehicles, useful if this becomes a property that friends and family visit independently. The garden itself was recently redesigned and is fully fenced: a practical detail that matters if you're not here year-round. The outbuilding currently serves as a music practice space with two additional hobby rooms, but it could equally become a guest studio, a home gym, or a professional workspace. The pond anchors the garden visually, and the southwest orientation means the outdoor space is genuinely usable from March through October.
Loenhout itself sits within the municipality of Wuustwezel in the Antwerp province, about 25 kilometers north of the city center. The village has the easy rhythm of a community that hasn't been overrun — locals actually know each other here, the annual Loenhout 24H cross-country motorbike race in December draws visitors from across Europe, and the nearby Wuustwezel heathlands offer walking and cycling routes through protected Campine landscape. The Dutch border is less than five kilometers away, and Antwerp's ring road is reachable in under 25 minutes, putting the city's Michelin-starred restaurant scene, the MAS museum on the Scheldt, and Antwerp Central Station — one of the most architecturally remarkable railway stations in Europe — all within comfortable reach for an evening out.
For international buyers, Belgium's property purchase process is well-established and relatively straightforward, with clear legal frameworks for foreign ownership. There are no restrictions on non-Belgian EU citizens purchasing residential property, and the country's bilateral tax treaties with most European nations make the ownership structure manageable. Wuustwezel properties at this level hold their value well; the Antwerp metropolitan area continues to attract international talent and investment, and quality family homes in village settings close to the city are consistently sought after in the resale market.
Key features at a glance:
- 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms across 562m² of living space
- Plot of nearly 2,000m² with southwest-facing garden and redesigned pond
- Built 2007, good condition, EPC label B
- Boretti gas stove kitchen, fully equipped for serious cooking
- Basement with wine cellar, bar, home cinema space, and storage rooms
- Walk-in dressing room and lift connecting all floors
- 28 solar panels, new heating boiler, high-efficiency glazing
- Alarm system, mechanical ventilation, rainwater tank, underfloor heating
- Two garages (36m² and 20m²) plus versatile garden outbuilding
- Fully fenced garden — practical for part-time or absentee owners
- Electrical installation fully compliant with Belgian regulations
- Not in a flood zone; no heritage protection restrictions
- 25km north of central Antwerp; near Dutch border and Campine nature reserve
- Attic with fixed staircase offering potential for further development
If you're looking at vacation homes in Belgium or a permanent second base in the Antwerp region, Sint Annastraat 52 is the kind of address that rarely comes available. Get in touch with the Homestra team to arrange a private viewing — and come on a Saturday morning if you can.
