"""Soelen"""

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Description component 1: MAIN BUILDING (Huis Soelen).

On a small round island with steep embankment stands on the medieval building site the block-shaped house restored in the sixteenth century, which in the 17th century was extended with narrow annexes against the side façades. In the medieval masonry of approximately 1.5 metres thickness traces have been found of a stairwell with light slits in the side walls of the access staircase in the western annex. The main building constructed on rectangular plan of brick (salvage brick of large format) measuring 17 by 18.30 metres consists of a basement, piano nobile, first floor and half storey under two slate-covered parallel hipped roofs, and separate hipped roofs on the side extensions. The four corner chimneys are crowned with ornamental ironwork applied in 1911. The front façade is broken in the centre by a square tower, which projects by two half storeys and is crowned by a slate-covered tapered spire with an egg-shaped top. The façades feature regular articulation with glazing bars, which at the 1975 restoration were installed in place of the 19th-century six-pane Empire windows; above most windows are basket-arch relieving arches and arch voussoirs of natural stone (1835). The five-bay front façade has centrally, at a two-step high stoep, the entrance arrangement consisting of an early 19th-century double panelled door with twisted iron closing bar in holder, above it a rectangular (originally semicircular) fanlight. The whole is set in a simple early 19th-century (circa 1835) frame, which also encompasses a storey window. Above it a window under an unmortared string that marks the start of the tower in which two more windows are placed one above the other. In the right side façade traces of four bricked-up windows are visible, which have made way for one window for the placement of a staircase. On the gutter line a clock with an inscription of the initials V and R and the year 1643 is attached, probably referring to the alteration or completion of the property. In the INTERIOR the cellars are vaulted with barrel vaults and trough vaults. During an internal alteration around 1741 a transverse passage was constructed over all storeys and in the western annex a staircase, moved in 1975 to the centre behind the front door, with 19th-century stair railing. Further of importance are among other things the fitment from 1777 with stucco ceilings in hall, salon and dining room; original doors in basement, piano nobile and first floor; on these latter two storeys the authentic oak wooden interior shutters; in the northeastern rooms on the main floor coffered ceiling and timber panelling; in the southwestern room on the first floor a marble fireplace; in the northwestern room on the first floor an early 20th-century chimney arrangement consisting of a wooden construction with mirror, marble fireplace and steel hearth; in the great hall on the piano nobile a fireplace provided with stucco work in Empire style with ornamental vase.

Valuation

The MAIN BUILDING (Huis Soelen) belonging to the historical country house estate Soelen is of general cultural and architectural-historical importance:

- because of its age;

- because of the medieval house in its origin with well-preserved masonry, which was restored or rebuilt in the 16th century and extended in the 17th century;

- because of the interior components still present and specifically mentioned;

- as a well-preserved component of a defensible complex with outer ward and moat;

- because of the functional-spatial relationship with the other components of the country house estate.