Axel Vervoordt and the extraordinary treasures of Castle 's-Gravenwezel | House & Garden

'I compare it to when you organise a dinner and you invite many different people who don't know each other,' Axel Vervoordt told his client Kanye West in a 2019 interview with the Hollywood Reporter. 'It becomes the most amazing dinner. Everybody inspires each other. It's a bit like how I bring things together.'
Beginning his career 50 years ago dealing antiques to his parent's friends in his native Antwerp, Vervoordt is now considered one of the world's most respected designers and dealers in art and antiques. His interior design practice - which counts West, Sting and Robert De Niro among its clients - fuses the philosophies of Japanese design with an old world European sensibility. House & Garden visited Vervoodt at Castle 's-Gravenwezel, the home he shares with his wife May just outside Antwerp.
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ABOUT HOUSE & GARDEN
House & Garden has, for 70 years, set the gold
standard in design and decoration for the home.
House & Garden covers “the well-lived life”. As well
as covering the most beautiful homes and gardens,
House & Garden extensively features travel, wine &
food, lifestyle and shopping.
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[@sarahu.38]

Ah, yes. A kindred spirit. A minimalist soul with a maximalist aesthetic. Sometimes we just can't help ourselves!

[@Angie_P]

I think the castle reflects his personal energy. Calm, timeless, full of wonder, yet you sense the history and are aware there is more beneath the surface.

[@DreamingCatStudio]

Why yes! I AM available to be adopted! ☺️

[@rainbowcitizen4897]

His line when he says, you don't own anything. Truth

[@dva5610]

Stolen from Patek

[@dietervernaillen4722]

@@dva5610 Stoicism

[@ToniM10]

Thts humility... even if Ur..well off.. ✌️❤️😎

[@LORRAIN-lz3wn]

Wow. I love how you honor all of your pieces in separate rooms. That’s really special.

[@LesterPGrant]

This is a perfect example of how a home can reflect its inhabitant. I am a huge fan of his work. Even more so now.

[@cellison9414]

Lovely, and I adore his loyal companion.

[@leorios6400]

Great lesson on how a house doesn't have to de fussy or pretentious to be elegant, gorgeous and timeless. What a peaceful setting to call home.

[@maddscientist3170]

LOVE his combo of East meets West!

[@lydiarowe491]

What a gentle at peace Axel is generated into what a home his castle represents...a feeling not glitz..so much more...🌳🏤🌲

[@bellad.1274]

But its a castle, he's adorning with mud! How pretentious!🙈

[@bellad.1274]

Rich people in castles supported the highest artisans in their crafts - furniture, textiles, ceramics, etc.

[@hugocaceres5425]

A beautiful soul fills a quiet space more than richness

[@JijjysMaison]

Axel Vervoordt is one of my favourite artist/designer/collector. I love his look on life and his sentiments. I remember in one of the interviews years ago when he says that, "we have come up with so many designs over the centuries, there is no more to ideas, I now love to find old unique things and turn them into beautiful things".

[@marysmyth8288]

I feel the depth of his soul through his expressions as he so lovingly takes us on his journey *With him through the rooms of his castle , his visionary qualities are so calming and I love His little dog companion. Mary 🇨🇦 Canada

[@rneustel388]

The music room at 2:55 is my dream space. All the colors work exquisitely together, and are so lovely and warm. His dog so obviously adorers his master.

[@bilko1971]

For me this represents what happens when an old soul has money and the will to express what life means to them. I would probably end up in a similar scenario were i to have the funds and start over again.

[@kriswillard6011]

Gosh this is so beautiful I could literally cry! What an amazing home!

[@elizabethcommandeur4093]

Exquisite. His energy and tone is amazing. Love everything. ❤

[@hellohouselovers1747]

Oh my what a fabulous place and what a philosophy! There are no rules and there is no dogma! Thank you!

[@nowanobady]

I love his depth... So much meaning he gives to art...

[@anmnou]

I wish a castle would choose me, lol!

[@riettedeklerk9153]

This beautiful castle reflects his serenity, inner peace and inner beauty so aptly. It is unforgettable.

[@NicolesNaturals]

Wow, I really have no words. Beautiful is too weak a word to describe this place. It's just magical.

[@soundrasimpson7885]

I love the diversity in humanity ❤️

[@arela1030]

Oh my god speechless.period.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏💙🦋💙⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🍷🥂🍷cheers

[@lutheur33]

The man followed in detail by every interior designer ... And they have good reason.. he’s brilliant.

[@susanvaughan-schiele4201]

What a wonderful sense of beauty.

[@flowersfrom7311]

Every room is amazing!

[@AA-xd9fg]

Axel Vervoort, Ricardo Bofill and Anoushka Hempel is my all time fav..

[@dulcetghost]

im OBSESSED with this house

[@Mary-fv4bn]

I love his energy!

[@susprime7018]

Very relaxing, love your art choices and your spaniel.

[@janetcorey5102]

Very deep and heavy exploration of his mind and his personal collection!

[@AJsGreenThumbLLC]

Your home is magnificent and stately but still very warm and approachable. I love the color combinations, they are quite soothing actually! Thanks for sharing!

[@Helen-us1ly]

The delf porcelain room is dreamy, I've never seen blue and white in that context before. I don't know who did the flower arranging but is absolutely gorgeous ,perfect. The scale, the colors, the movement completely harmonious. Some of the rooms look desolate. The colors morbid even dirty looking.

[@theartisticmystic4501]

Love the spiritual aspects of the space!

[@tkarichey3]

Wow...just wow

[@whattovisitinromania5044]

Amazing castle, very charming! 💕

[@larkmurry7808]

Merci, Axel! Delicious...

[@sardonicsophisticate3974]

1:11 is stunning! Magical!

[@SB-jn5ge]

love this style.

[@michaelnicola5210]

He is many things and he is not others but, there is genius at play and it’s a marvel.

[@Cotswoldblonde]

Wow! What an incredible human and house.

[@sandramalone3522]

I love that adorable dog.

[@mariateresinhagiotollemend9603]

Arte profunda Grande estilo Eu adoro o cachorro Saudações from Brazil

[@marialinares7809]

Cozy, classic, infinitely shaped, perfect 🙌🙌🙌

[@klgherkin]

Just beautiful.

[@robindunbar2902]

wonderful!

[@frankcarter7146]

Magnificent space...

[@UnaChefenlaCocina]

Fantastic❤️

[@Mary-fv4bn]

Axel is priceless!

[@oiausdlkasuldhflaksjdhoiausydo]

This is a very sophisticated and elegant way to say I have so much money I have nothing else to do. Still, lovely.

[@jamesallison4875]

Holy shit, I love to hear him talk!

[@robertasutherland6090]

I wonder how he might design low income housing-thoughtfully, so that beauty could be experienced by more than the wealthy.

[@luxlife2677]

how does a persons financial situation have to do with seeing beauty. beauty is seen everywhere. And to be cliche' it's in the eye of the beholder. Everyone has a perspective

[@bellad.1274]

Why so he can cover the walls with mud? I think it's ugly and too basic. An insult to the castle. Low income housing? If you live in a mud hut you don't need to cover the walls with mud

[@romanspataro1688]

I believe he's helping Kanye with something of the sort

[@Whoiskevinjones]

I suspect he is self-absorbed to the point where he can't concern himself with others.

[@romanspataro1688]

@@Whoiskevinjones what would possibly make you say this about a man who's spent his life building very individualistic homes for other people? if you were familiar with his work, you'd know he's extremely empathetic.

[@anitarodriguez-rudell2211]

Spectacular ❤

[@rayna463]

Beautiful

[@hupnvs1396]

Merci

[@nlbhaduri]

Masterful!

[@schaufelmann4207]

hes a genious

[@janetcorey5102]

I love the way Axil thinks. I am always struck by his thoughts, they linger in my mind. The Chateau, well I don’t see him there

[@janetcorey5102]

PS❤️

[@frankvanderhorst6528]

Hey Jannot it is Axel !

[@AltoNegron]

Obra maestra del diseño interior

[@romanspataro1688]

A wonderful man

[@timetodestroy]

a satanic pedophile is a wonderful man in your eyes? lol

[@christianegonbarnthaler1426]

super art

[@nguyen2nguyen]

Axel’s interior design has always surpassed beauty - beauty for the mere sake of it is so boring. His castle is a breathtaking space of philosophy and meditation.

[@annacoribioanna]

so beautiful!!!! 😍

[@ginafriend1690]

One second into video, I was ready to meditate

[@alexandrbrownlow3949]

Brilliant

[@vaninaarballo5584]

Maravilla!!!!!!!!

[@putcielinky]

unbelievable

[@arlinejernigan]

LOVE

[@javiernunezgranados7883]

Some isolated pieces are beatiful, some even grand, but the whole concept...

[@irishelk3]

Yeah see if I had a house like that I’m not sure I’d ever go out again, I don’t know his story but there are positives to starting at the bottom.

[@bettinarossi7908]

Most exquisite.

[@gaslitworldf.melissab2897]

Those with great privilege, including wealth and education seem to be the ones who think it's still possible to be down to earth, but really, his style is so refined, b/c he has so much to work from - abundance in knowledge, wisdom of the ages, theories that lesser men never really grasp, if they come in contact with the great ideas of the ages at all. His choices are nonetheless highbrow no matter what. A cosmopolitan, erudite man is rarely all that humble, well not as humble as he imagines. Hehehe. I still admire his approach, however,.

[@mercuriafilms]

I wouldn't call him an herudite. Perhaps he is just an art collector/merchant and decorator with taste for Japan and the aesthetics of emptiness.

[@theharplayer2036]

@@mercuriafilms I think this person’s Username checks out with his comment.

[@italianbirdvideos6190]

Well said Melissa.

[@Windy22565]

just don't call him a decorator!

[@emmyandboo]

I agree with you I love the concept of what he is saying though! I am technically a poor person, I make about 30g's a year but I am cultured and love to learn and I love high art/fashion/music. I thank my upbringing for that, and honestly I love to share the knowledge that I have with others and I believe that's a big part of what life is all about - the fact that I can watch something high art on the internet and be cultured without ever leaving my tiny, little apartment! 😁

[@elmo3514]

Very nice and calm. but I hope see this video more better quality.

[@willsmm]

Anyone know the name of the wallpaper/wallcovering used in his study? It's beautiful

[@Karim-so9jc]

A genious

[@lenamaria625]

wow

[@paperpalacequeen]

Right up my street..

[@lauramarkovic5307]

I find him incredibly inspiring and have a problem with the idea of such ownership. Because his philosophy is spiritual and then all of these things, the head of the monk, the disc of heaven... they should belong in public space, to be available to all. By commodifying spiritual objects and selling them at high price one is subverting the ideas behind the objects. A rich (wo)man buying Vervoordt design will by this act come no closer to spirituality, (s)he will just buy into the idea. I hope Vervoordt will one day open his castle and turn it into a museum available to all (and I can admire his curating genius).

[@LaughingInTiny]

Comments like this are so weird. Would you open your home to the public and have random people walking through all the time? Why would you think he should want to be public? Because he has money? There are millions of old things floating around the world and the best pieces live in museums... So much stuff that most of it is never even on display... it's catalogued and lives in storage. If the guy wants to own an ancient thing and treats it with reverence and respect, why should he not?

[@sylviepelletier9953]

@@LaughingInTiny Well said, I agree with you.

[@larafro1977]

Looks like a member of the Vanger clan from the movie " The girl with the dragon tattoo"

[@samschamaun5784]

Man rich people are just in a whole other dimension.

[@kmarch6630]

Oh yes, eclectic design explained as high design. I suppose I can claim that same style in my home.

[@angelaconfusione8511]

What was the name of the collapsable art pieces?

[@harlemtrades5023]

Whose the artist that made that big painting? Can't understand what he says.

[@janedoe805]

There’s too much “Japanese emptiness” for me but then again it not my house. As long as he’s happy after all it is his castle. I’d be interested in looking at some of his other work.

[@annolsen4943]

@Stephen Murphy you are so right....what an perceptive reply.

[@angelaseverina2698]

Is this the snuff film castle?.

[@timetodestroy]

very possible

[@ajisenramen888]

I love his aesthetic and mindset. The camerawork or editing from 2:33 gets a little shaky or jerky. It gets a little hard to watch.

[@totallydomestic433]

Japanese monk head is an idol...”I treat him like my master”

[@CK_Japan_]

✨✨🙏✨✨✨

[@haret0n]

loaded

[@randygeyer7673]

But what does the dog think?

[@verygood10]

The dog...

[@gqwashulawu5566]

Who’s here after Kanye’s recommendations?

[@anmnou]

🤮

[@creambabyjazz]

I feels like This guy’s past life might be a monk. He’s been stay in his own temple in Japan or China…

[@catherinemalian9558]

Crrgftriueesurhrutfgejtrtbffiviooudcvrlfuureyfekrdsutdijtgroifrdikyedftedbezugibjetelssufxfgtufttxfgtdombge

[@ChrisLovesThisGame]

He worked with Kanye West. A man of refinement, spirituality and exquisitely thoughtful taste worked for Kanye West, an empty vessel. The soulless mausoleum that is the result is no surprise at all. Vervoordt dove headfirst into that pool and discovered it was an inch deep. A monastery for those two? Please. He is now forever associated in the popular imagination with two of the most loudly famous people ever created. This man was "the designer's designer". What a pathetic footnote to such a well-respected career.

[@anmnou]

I guess all that money was too tempting.

[@catherinemalian9558]

Jekzidiuvfvvucgijhruycrxfjeiefhghrfikchotcrsikovolrchookeftbreioogyfernmzuxggtfollghrhhlkjgliiptggdjigdgeketrxijhrfggfrihroridflettdytbfjjfsinosjfjroircfbjexfmlvrsjgvfolrftjhrjridoivfvxihvrgtvhhgoorbvrbbnfusvgvhkurdktfoorcrlzonedcgdutfsmkddhcrgsugxdcgcvegreucvesigoircrdftvoolgjyltjhficxhrnhr

[@Swameh]

He really is the king of 'high brow' wabi sabi. Should have known that if i searched Wabi and Castle, it would turn up Vervoordt.

[@ToniM10]

I hate being called a... decorator !! The difference between a decorator and a..Designer are miles apart....🤨 Also... "...The poor should be humble when they achieve their hearts desire... The wealthy should be humble, knowing that their riches will not...last..." ✌️❤️😎👍

[@Whoiskevinjones]

I assumed he had a Fontana slice painting before we saw it. Somewhat predictable.