The search began with a garage. A dry, private place for two cars. That was the requirement, and how the house looked around it mattered far less. Then they found this one. An 1895 townhouse on the Plantage in Schiedam, looking out over the city park and the masts of the sailing boats in the harbour. The garage met the brief. The house turned out to be far more.

Inside were classical ceilings with hand painted ornaments, suite doors, a granito vestibule, stained glass and panelling. A building with tangible history, and no interior yet that matched the people who would live in it. The clients are a couple without children. He is an entrepreneur who loves processes and fast cars. She has an eye for material and her own rhythm. The MasterPlan Methode© brought both worlds into view. Where does your morning begin? How does your evening end? Where do you put everything down when you come home?

A municipal monument offers character and limits in equal measure. The guiding choice was to add, not to replace. Layers from this time, set gently over the original layer. On the upper floor the classical ceilings had been boarded away behind lowered ones. They were opened up, and the original ornaments came back into view. In the toilets the hand painted tiles were taken down one by one, restored, and set back in exactly the right order.

The materials support the classical character rather than compete with it. Softly mixed beige walls, fresh white high gloss woodwork, and white ceilings that let the original paintings speak. The same brass Buster & Punch handles run from the vestibule all the way to the bedroom, one continuous line. The kitchen stays a room of its own, a deliberate choice in a time of open plans. The original granito floor and worktop are preserved, and everything else is built around them in deep aubergine high gloss and marble.

Upstairs, the daily ritual runs from bed to bath to a fully bespoke walk in boutique, where every outfit has its place. Even the cat has its own domain, reached through an opening shaped like a cat's head in the side of the window bench. As the owner puts it, every morning begins with an espresso by the park, and it all feels self evident, though it comes straight from MoID.

This is 155 square metres where the house does exactly what a house should. It carries its own history, it holds the life of the people inside it, and it makes life on your own terms possible.