East meets west in Danish holiday home

For the past 20 years, Allan Sand has lived in Shanghai where, since 2005, he has run his company Sand Future, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of pressure washers and which employs 250 people in China.

However, Allan was born in Hadsund, and having spent many summers in Øster Hurup as a boy, he has always had a dream of returning and building a house here. When an old summer house came up for sale, he immediately seized the chance to realise his dream of having a base in Denmark – right on the beach.

The architect started by sketching the 400-square-metre holiday home on a sheet of greaseproof paper: A large living room spanning the full width of the house with views of the Kattegat, three suites and a large man cave.

When in Denmark, Allan would roll up his sleeves and help with the building work. The rest of the time, construction meetings were held via Facetime from Shanghai – while a strong ‘senior’ team consisting of Allan’s father, the architect Leif Høgh and the local tradesmen had the project in hand.

In designing the holiday home, every detail was carefully considered: The beachy colours of the 100% handmade Kolumba brick from Petersen Tegl, the white cement grouting with added beach sand to ensure the house blends in naturally with its surroundings, Danish oak,

Chinese bamboo and the natural stone which is used for the unique bathtub and for the worktops, both inside and for the outdoor kitchen. The consistent use of just a few materials produces an understatedly elegant and coherent feel.

Oak features prominently in the Copenhagen bespoke kitchen from uno form, which is combined with tall units in matt black laminate and worktops in Belvedere granite. The bronze/brown tints in the veins of the dark Belvedere granite tie in well with the oak, bamboo and the natural hues of the handmade bricks.

The kitchen was designed in collaboration with Anja Hagstrup from uno form Aalborg, and the modern, clear-cut look matches the rest of house perfectly.

“Mary loves cooking, so we spend a lot of time in the kitchen when we’re here. When travelling, we eat out a lot, but when we’re in Denmark, we love to cook in our own kitchen,” says Allan.

The international feel of the interior was inspired by stays at luxury hotels in the East as well as Instagram images.

For example, all the bedrooms feature a beautiful bamboo wall panel dyed in several shades and with integrated lighting as well as mobile phone chargers concealed in the bedside tables in each of the three suites, which have their own wardrobe and bathroom.

The bathrooms on the ground floor have skylights spanning the full width of the shower, creating a sense of almost bathing under a waterfall in the East. The bathtub in Allan and Mary’s bathroom is a chapter in itself – carved out of a massive block of natural stone. The same stone is used on all the walls, with matching veining on the walls, floor and countertops.

In the basement, Allan has created his own private sports bar with a billiards table, a big screen and an area for playing darts. For Allan, even the smallest detail counts, which is why a dark type of wood has been milled into the oak floor to mark the oche, or throw line, exactly 237 cm from the dartboard.

The wine collection and the gas fireplace are integrated into the wall between the sports bar and the garage, which has plenty of room for four cars, mountain bikes and surfboards.

The family comes together as often as possible at the holiday home – from all corners of the world.

The rest of the time they are scattered worldwide, with Allan and Mary in Shanghai, one of Allan’s two sons in Miami and the other in London.