30/10/2026
𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲. 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀.
Imagine living in a house where one side of your front door is in Belgium and the other is in the Netherlands.
Welcome to Baarle, one of Europe's most extraordinary geographical puzzles. This small town is divided into 30 enclaves, comprising 22 Belgian and eight Dutch territories, creating a patchwork of international boundaries that run through streets, gardens, shops and even people's homes.
Normally, a property's official address is determined by which country contains its front door. But one remarkable house has its entrance directly on the international boundary, giving it two addresses: Loveren 2 in Belgium and Loveren 19 in the Netherlands. It even has two doorbells!
The boundaries are marked on pavements with distinctive white crosses and metal markers, while house number signs display national colours to identify which country a property belongs to.
For surveyors, it's a fascinating example of how a line drawn on a map can determine something as fundamental as your official address, local administration and which country's rules apply.
Most of us worry about where the boundary lies between our garden and the neighbour's. In Baarle, it might be the boundary between two countries.