Parkwijck

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

Introduction

The construction history of the RESIDENTIAL HOUSE, villa type ('Parkwyck') designed by architect H.P. Berlage can be divided into two phases. The first phase concerns the construction of the villa in 1900 on the south side of the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. The client for the construction was the historian Leo Simons, acquaintance of Berlage and founder of the 'Maatschappij voor goede en goedkope lektuur,' the predecessor of the Wereldbibliotheek.

Simons occupied the house in Amsterdam until 1913, when he moved to The Hague. Due to the remarkable form of the chimney, the house acquired the nickname 'De Theepot'. The villa is, as regards its interior, one of the first examples where Berlage had the internal walls of the hall constructed entirely in fair-faced brickwork. The interior reflected a new view on interior design, whereby rational and constructively pure design took the foreground. To realise this insight, Berlage acted as a total designer: both the exterior and the interior were designed by the architect down to the smallest details.

Villa Parkwyck was, partly due to the unconventional interior and due to the placement of the kitchen on the street side, sold with considerable difficulty in 1913. The villa was dismantled stone by stone and reconstructed in Bilthoven. With this began the second phase in the construction history of this villa, which was dismantled stone by stone and reconstructed in Bilthoven by Joh. B. Lambeek jr. In doing so, some modifications were made. The villa was raised higher from the ground, the floor plan was altered and extended in some places, whereby the original proportions changed. The villa was also rotated, so that the kitchen which in Amsterdam was on the street side, came to be located on the rear side. In circles of architects and architecture critics, these 'mutilations' led to fierce criticism and protests.

The current villa Parkwyck has barely changed since the relocation. Although the adjustments were not made in the spirit of Berlage, the interior unmistakably still breathes the atmosphere of Berlage.

Description

The villa is laid out on a floor plan of two rectangles placed against each other but offset. The main mass consists of two storeys under a hipped roof covered with tuile du Nord tiles and a single-storey extension under a hipped roof attached to the main mass. Ceramic cresting is attached to the roof ridge ends. The gables constructed in red brick have both fixed windows and opening windows, usually provided with glazing bars. All windows have moulded sills and straight stone lintels with natural stone accents.

The northeast gable (front) of the main volume has an asymmetrical window arrangement. In the centre, the gable is built higher for the benefit of the stairwell and is closed off by three windows of a roof dormer set into the roof with a hipped roof at the same ridge height as the main volume. The entrance at the far right is actually located in the right side gable against which the extension is pressed and contains a porch that is positioned parallel with the front gable. The porch is accessed via a mortared staircase added in 1943. This gable of the extension contains on the right between paired wooden pillars with cube capitals the passage, and on the left a non-original situation in which a window subdivided by glazing bars is placed upon a parapet. The porch and window are closed off by a full-width wooden lintel on which the name "Parkwyck" appears.

The southwest gable has two window axes. On the left is a three-sided bay window with balcony, which was added during the reconstruction. On the right in the gable are both on the first and second storeys three-light windows with moulded mullions. The roof section has a dormer with a small gabled roof on this side.

The southeast gable, on the side of the Soestdijkseweg Noord, acquired its current form in 1913. The first storey was extended by just over a metre. The extension, which is entirely in the original style, has a chamfered corner on the right while on the left a three-sided bay window with chamfered corners has been realised. The flat roof of the extension functions as a balcony. Above the bay window the balcony has received a canopy with a hipped roof supported by four pairs of coupled pillars with cube capitals on the corners of the bay window.

The northwest gable is dominated by a single-storey extension with the aforementioned attached hipped roof (in which a dormer) against the taller main mass. In 1921 a small extension under a catslide roof was added, which leads to the washhouse located behind. To the right of this the gable has two coupled windows separated by a moulded mullion with double opening windows resting on a shared sill and is closed off above by a straight lintel. At the far right is a chimney flue executed as an arch that connects to the chimney flue of the main mass. On the roof of the extension a dormer with a small gabled roof has been placed.

The interior is reasonably intact. The entrance leads to a vestibule. A revolving door with glazing bars, leaded glass side lights and an arched fanlight with leaded glass gives access to the hall with staircase. This hall was widened in a northerly direction in 1913. The toilet under the staircase was relocated for this purpose. Originally all walls were executed in fair-faced brickwork, but since the reconstruction in Bilthoven and contrary to the original concept, only the plinth has been executed in red and dark green glazed brick. The door frames and relieving arches are executed in unglazed brick with natural stone corner accents. The walls above the plinth are white plastered and framed with a dentilled brick band. The hearth section is built higher and has a natural stone mantel. The breast is executed in fair-faced brickwork. The ceiling is executed in white-painted pine beadboard. The wooden staircase has a plinth executed in glazed brick that at the height of the handrail transitions with a dentilled pattern into white plasterwork.

From the hall the adjacent living room and sitting room open out. In the living room is a monumental chimney piece executed in natural stone. In the mantel shelf a recessed geometric decoration has been applied. The back wall of the fireplace is tiled with square, orange-red coloured tiles. In the sitting room is a simple chimney piece, executed in rust-brown and purple-blue glazed tiles. The ceilings of these rooms are executed between the beams in diagonally placed beadboard. All walls are white plastered. The landing on the first floor is executed in accordance with the hall. The plinth is executed in unglazed brick with the exception of the closing band.

In the westerly located bedroom is a fitted cupboard with wrought iron fittings and hardware designed by Berlage. The doors of the rooms also have fittings and handles according to designs by the architect.

The attic floor has a number of doors which presumably still have the original colour scheme: yellowish-brown panels with caramel-brown frames. Below the kitchen on the west side is a cellar with grey cemented pillars and barrel vaults.

Valuation

The villa Parkwyck in Bilthoven is of general importance due to its architectural-historical value through the pioneering function of the original design, in which Berlage's ideas as a total designer are realised both in the exterior and the interior. Furthermore as an early work in the architect's oeuvre. As well as due to its cultural-historical value due to its occupation history and the remarkable relocation history.