Total peace reigns at the end of the road at the red Eagle castle (“Ørneborgen”) on a July morning in Holte. Only birds chirp high up from the dark green fir trees that grow on the edge of the 1035 square meters plot.
Ørneborgen is architect Knud Friis’ and Elmar Moltke’s single-family house North of Copenhagen. I found the house while making the book FRIIS&MOLTKE HUSENE, which was published in August.
The reddish-brown brick house from 1974 does not draw much attention to itself, not even despite its magnificent name. Though it has conservation value 8 and as much as 178 square meters with six rooms, a kitchen and three bathrooms, a basement and an attached garage.
It has a single-sided pitched roof, concrete frames around the windows and a pretty closed facade towards the neighboring houses.
Pernille, who has lived with her family in the house for 20 years, shows me into the kitchen-dining room, which is the heart of the U-shaped house. From here the house is bright with a view of the courtyard and green trees on a lush lawn.
The family wanted to preserve as much as they could when they took over the house.
The sound of the sluggish, heavy, original wooden sliding door testifies that the window frames are robust. The warm summer air flows in from the terrace, which is an extension of the kitchen and the living rooms. All the facades on this side of the house consist of floor-to-ceiling windows, and from here Ørneborgen seems transparent and open.
Inside the house light wooden ceilings have replaced the original dark brown ceilings. Heating is laid under the dark tiled floors. A new kitchen has replaced the original kitchen, where everything was kept in dark colors. The bathroom is still original. Nice brown tiles sneak up and stand in sharp contrast to the white enamel bathtub and the white walls
On the terrace the cobblestones have been replaced by gray concrete pavers and the original woodwork has been painted gray throughout.
The Siamese cat Lillu follows me silently with her eyes while going to the terrace. Here I notice the downspout chain for rainwater hanging from the roof and the small rainwater basin which is filled with stones. Once there was a low small wall around the rainwater basin. Pernille tells, that they had to remove it because the amount of rain became too much. Along with that, they also removed a large jar with greenery.
Although Ørneborgen is somewhat different today than when it was built, it still retains its special character, namely the transparent connection to the green garden and the closed red facade facing the road.
