About 20 miles from Amsterdam, an old monastery stands amid a lively garden in the quiet town of Bennebroek. Franciscan sisters once lived in the imposing brick structure, built in the 19th century, but they departed late in the 20th, and a developer subsequently carved the bulk of the building into 18 apartments.

During the renovation, workers uncovered frescoes painted on the walls, and the couple decided to leave portions of them uncovered." layout="" credit="Photo by Alan Jensen" photoUserId="6200641978654580736"/>

That’s how Milla Novo and her husband, Nigel Nowotarski, came to live in the top of what was once a chapel. As you step into their apartment, large arched windows hint at its ecclesiastical past, but the couple’s eye-catching textiles and artworks—set against pristine white walls—make the biggest impression.

Milla, who worked as a flight attendant before reinventing herself as a designer four years ago, creates large macramé-esque wall hangings that incorporate symbols of the Mapuche people in south-central Chile, where her mother is from and still lives.

Nigel works full-time in fintech, but he has also produced large Pop art–style portraits (lately he’s been focusing his creative energies on assisting Milla with her endeavors). “We wanted to establish a balance between the original monastery building and a clean living space for displaying our art,” Milla says.

When they bought the two-level, 2,100-square-foot space in 2018, it was raw, giving architect Wouter Slot and engineer Devin Wesselius of Standard Studio a blank canvas of their own. They worked with the couple to determine an open-plan lower floor with some seating areas—one raised, by the windows—and a studio for Milla organized around a central kitchen island and dining space.

A steel spiral stair leads up to a bedroom, two bathrooms, an office, and another studio on the second floor. “I believe the energy in a house should flow,” Milla says. To that end, the main bathroom upstairs has two entrances, as does the balcony—on each side of the apartment—and there’s a second, ladder-like stair, so you can walk up one and down the other and trek outdoors and back if you feel like making a seamless circuit around the home. “Wherever we are in the house, we can surprise each other,” Milla adds.

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“I wanted everything to flow: a staircase up, a staircase down, for example. You can walk in circles—there is no blockage. I found that very important.”
—Milla Novo, designer and resident

During the renovation, the builders discovered religious frescoes behind the white plaster walls, prompting Milla and Nigel to track down photos of the chapel and to piece together what must still be behind them. They decided to uncover the paintings, but—on the advice of their architects—only partially.

“I told them, ‘Don’t forget it’s your house, not a monastery,’” says Slot. “‘Let’s not overdo it.’” One wall is now home to a group of angels and monks; the other features part of a castle. The rest of the works remain hidden. “We love how much personality this house has,” Milla says. “I know it sounds weird, but sometimes I think those angels are happy we set them free.”

Project Credits:

Renovation Architect: Standard Studio

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Near Amsterdam, a Couple Turn the Top of a Former Chapel Into Their Home and Studio