Peter Bernaerts writes the following:
Homely brick modernism, it seems contradictory. What was quickly described by the general public, especially in the mid-1930s in Turnhout, as cool and distant, is not what the Schellekens house is at all. The two-family dwelling, of which one part can be visited with the gifted narrator, son Peter Schellekens, as a guide, conceals behind its façade a charming ensemble of rather small, comfortable rooms, of which in particular the waiting room, the office, and the dining room with its cozy seating area invite the visitor to reflect on space and its efficient use. Clever vistas and painted walls in ever-changing, fresh colours make this house, built for himself in 1936, a delight to wander through. As a visitor, but probably also as a resident. It is to the credit of the heirs of the young deceased architect, who also put his signature on the Open-Air Theatre of Deurne, to have preserved this beacon of new thinking in interwar architecture from demolition. Although, upon leaving, one still ponders about the thermal bridges and the silent decay to which such visionary homes are subject. Being listed should not mean that the monument can be left out in the cold. The Schellekens House, highly recommended.
