House Sabbe Kuurne

In 1928, the Sabbe family had this beautiful house built. It radiates prosperity, and that’s no surprise: the Sabbes are an important flax family. They own two flax factories in Kuurne, one on Bondgenotenlaan and one here across the street.

A separate point is dedicated to 'Roterij Sabbe'. In the building complex here across the street, at General Eisenhowerstraat 2 to 8, their retting house was located.

The house with the street sign is the caretaker's residence. In the left section, there is a boat room - a place to store and prepare the retted flax for shipping. The word 'boten' comes from 'botte,' a dialect term derived from French for 'sheaf' or 'bundle.'

Behind the white door on the first floor is a loading hatch that grants access to the flax attic. Typical for a boat room is also the double door on the ground floor. There are many theories about its function, but what you hear most often is that the flax seller can adjust the light with the upper half and thus present the flax in the best possible way. Most of those double doors have disappeared during later renovations, so this is quite a unique specimen.

The flax shed to the right of the caretaker's residence also belongs to the complex. The cobbled path to the left of the house leads you to the retting house. That is a small factory where the woody core of the flax stem is broken down, and where the wood fragments are subsequently removed.

Vl. Toeristisch bezienswaardigheden