With the moorings positioned significantly lower  than street level and the sloped banks lined with natural vegetation, this dwelling offers an introverted experience for inhabitants within the quiet and secluded area. the floor at the water’s surface contains the private bedrooms, offering privacy with the inherent landforms along with a living room which overlooks the gently rippling water. the upper level contains the public spaces which offers elevated views of the scenery from the kitchen and dining area.

Take an evening swim when you get home from work and sit and look out over the water from the terrace at the top during dinner. Two large patios fit for this unique houseboat with the possibility of permanent residents. Entrée accommodate site-built sofa and hallway with coat hangers. Furthermore, you can reach the master bedroom with adjoining walk-in closet with small sky-light, and sliding door. Adjacent to the bedroom, luxury bathroom with space built in teak tub, double sinks, separate shower and wall-hung toilet and heated towel rail. The guest toilet is decorated with stained glass and teak.

An additional bedroom with space built bunk bed with a small walk-in closet that can easily be converted into the toilet (wired). Plenty of windows, notade ekplankgolv and bright colors. A staircase leads up to the wheelhouse, which is a large open room. Windows overlooking 360 degrees and doors to exit to the upper deck. Downstairs, we find a large and open kitchen to living room that gives an incredible feeling to four feet in height, its glass ceiling and fireplace. You can sit large parties under a starry sky. Opportunity to acquire a unique accommodation with fabulous views in the city center.

If your big dream is to live aboard a boat, and if you are not afraid of huge heating bills, this one is currently offered at nearly $800,000.

In a small terrain of 16m width by 20m long in the middle of a flat Belgian landscape, raises a 30m high water tower built between 1938 and 1941 for and by the village of Steenokkerzeel. It has been in service until the beginning of the nineties and was used by the Nazis during the 2nd world war as a “tour de guete”.

The exterior of the tower was fully renovated to its initial state. Damaged concrete columns were repaired and painted, brick joints were completely removed and replaced and the windows in the floor top were enlarged.

Moving vertically through the home involves shifting from entry and functional spaces to living and dining areas and terminating in bedroom, shower and private relaxation zones that culminate in an extra-wide, 360-degree zone for enjoying lofted views of the sky and surrounding landscapes.

The first story contains a main entrance and two-car garage, below a second-story equipment, storage and HVAC zone. The third and fourth levels house guest, meeting and work spaces – the fifth features a master bedroom, with a spiral staircase that leads up kitchen, living and dining room areas. Finally, on the very top floor, there is a wrap-around terrace cantilevered out beyond the main structure (in the water-storage core).

Bham Design Studio had to work with local preservation efforts, building codes and the needs of clients to maintain the integrity of the building while making it a useful dwelling. Somehow it still manages to look a good fit for the farmland-filled countryside around it.

Built to last, the original water tower was constructed nearly seven decades ago. The exterior was preserved as best it could be, with the limited introduction of well-scaled windows and respect for the existing concrete and brick on all sides. The interior, for better or worse, was made more modern in style – black and white dominate, but perhaps that works well after all since it provides such compelling contrast with the colorful window-framed environments outside.

Every visible concrete element inside was painted in dark grey in order to mark the old from the new. This choice works in both ways since it makes the contrast created makes both bright and dark stand out.

2 – Guest room & office

An envelope inside the envelope. The combination of vertical and horizontal wengé surfaces delineates the guestâ€s bedroom area with its own bathroom.

3 – Bathroom

A central 4.5 meter high shower was created in the bathroom in order to maximize the water flow experience. Black tainted glass walls surround the walk in shower increasing the sense of intimacy.

Textile as visual separation from the cupboards was introduced to create a balance with the other “hard” materials and enhance the roomâ€s acoustics.

4 – Bedroom

This circular room with a dome ceiling hosts a revolving stairs leading to the upper floor and a full monolithic mirror dressing witch reflects the surroundings and gradually disappears.

Wengé wood flooring contrasts with the cold nature of the mirror surfaces. Light reflection on the wood bounces providing warm reddish tones on the walls.

5 – Living room, kitchen and dining room

Impressive by its circular shape and large surface, the top floor affords some incredible vistas to the airplanes landing on the national airport just a quarter of a kilometer away.

The elevator block integrates a rest room, a library, the cat house and a cloak room. Above the sculptural kitchen furniture, a steel bridge takes you to the terrace.

6 – Panoramic terrace

The terrace provides a full panoramic view and is equipped with raised IPE wood flooring and a shower.

This one is for sale.

Normally, a houseboat should be designed to be as light as possible. But here, weight appears to be not an issue.  There is no scrimping on material weights.

Solid wooden beams form a trellis outdoors. Heavy glass railings screwed down with sturdy steel screws safeguard the houseboat from water rot caused by the occasional splashes.

The fireplace is Travertine marble. The floors are Bamboo/Cork, Concrete, Hardwood.

Maybe a houseboatâ€s pontoon can support all this weight, but the financial weight is another matter.

This $3.8 million dollar houseboat would set you back $18,000 a month, even with 20% down.

(And that does not include all the priceless artwork, like this piece on the bathroom counter)

The view from the roof is serene… if you could relax while coming up with this kind of money!

Even inside you have a view of the yachts sailing in the nearby waterways.

This houseboat is almost 3,000 square feet “of custom designed luxury, with details of rare precision and restraint, and spaces both exhilarating and serene”.

I wonder if it can sell in todayâ€s economy?

Seattle Afloat

via Home Design Find