Here the border is just a line on the map
In Zundert, Rijsbergen, Galder, Strijbeek, Chaam and Baarle-Nassau, Belgium is hardly abroad. You fill up there, you eat out there, and half the village has family on the other side. For the residents of these villages the step to living there is smaller than for someone from the Randstad. Yet many people only look at the first villages across the border, such as Meersel-Dreef, Meer, Wuustwezel and Hoogstraten. Drive a quarter of an hour further and you reach the villa districts of Brecht, Schilde and Brasschaat, with a different kind of house altogether.
Travel times from the border region
| From Dennenlaan 58 to | Distance | By car |
|---|---|---|
| Zundert | approx. 28 km | approx. 20 min |
| Rijsbergen | approx. 34 km | approx. 20 min |
| Hoogstraten | approx. 22 km | approx. 20 min |
| Meersel-Dreef | approx. 30 km | approx. 25 min |
| Galder | approx. 38 km | approx. 25 min |
| Strijbeek | approx. 40 km | approx. 30 min |
| Chaam | approx. 48 km | approx. 35 min |
| Baarle-Nassau | approx. 45 km | approx. 40 min |
From Zundert and Rijsbergen you drive through Wuustwezel on the local roads or take the E19. From Galder, Strijbeek and Chaam you take the A16 or drive via Meersel-Dreef and Hoogstraten.
A different scale from the border villages
The border villages are rural: farms, detached houses along ribbon roads, plenty of open space. Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor is different. It is a residential villa district in the woods, laid out for people who want to live in the countryside with the city close by. The houses stand on generous plots, the avenues are quiet and Antwerp is approx. 15 min away.
Villa Grandeur fits that picture. The villa was built to an architect's design in 2004, with 412 m² of living space on 1,529 m² of land. What makes it special is the split-level layout: half storeys with open connections, so that living, cooking, sleeping and working each have a level of their own. Outside lies a heated 11 by 5 metre pool. The asking price is €1,095,000.
Keep what you have, gain what you miss
Moving from Zundert to Brecht does not mean turning your life upside down. The club, the family and work are twenty minutes to half an hour away. What you gain is a house of a size that rarely comes up for sale in the border villages, and the amenities of Antwerp's northern edge: golf at Rinkven, top-level hockey, international schools and the restaurants of Antwerp.
If you come from Baarle-Nassau, you already know the Belgian rules from close up. For everyone else, the guide Buying in Belgium explains what is different about the purchase, the mortgage and tax.
